


wheel in the sky

by Angie_leena



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Character, F/M, High School, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Relationship(s), Reconciliation, because he met carmen early, good dad johnny, johnny got his shit together early, miguel and robby are basically brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:08:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26830408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angie_leena/pseuds/Angie_leena
Summary: when Johnny meets a heavily pregnant Carmen in the parking lot at the Diner while waiting for Robby to be born his whole world changes. Carmen and her mom help Johnny get back on his feet and become a father and better man than he had been since the disastrous summer after his last All-Valley Tournament. Now with Robby and Miguel being his top students at Cobra-Kai, Johnny is happy with his life. Mostly. Too bad one favor to Carmen is enough to turn his whole world upside down.***It really was Johnny’s luck to have to deal with this bullshit on his day off wasn't it? He could have been dirt biking with Robby and Miguel. He could have been helping Yaya stuff those chilies with cheese with watering eyes and stinging fingers for tonight's birthday dinner. Hell, he could have taken advantage of some alone time and gone surfing by himself on some secluded beach off PCH. But no, here he was outside of one of the LaRusso Auto dealers to pick Carmen up. Carmen, who did not have her phone on her because she was trying to ruin Johnnys very carefully, verypainfullyput together life by making him walk through the dealership to find her.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 97
Kudos: 241





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first work in this fandom and im pretty excited to get it out there! ive read so many great stories and met some pretty awesome people from the Cobra Kai fandom so im happy to get to contribute. I dont have a Beta Reader for this so hopefully theres not too much cringe on this but if you find something let me know so i can fix it! i hope you guys enjoy because i definitely had a great time writing this so far! let me know what you think!

Then.

Johnny sat across the courtyard, as he had for the last 4 days, unable to look away from the table across from him. With the giant straw hat on his head, sunglasses and dark clothes he was mostly inconspicuous. Not that anyone was paying attention to him anyways. With a heavy sigh, he got up and walked away. He had a flight to catch and arrangements to make. 

Now. 

It really was Johnny’s luck to have to deal with this bullshit on his day off wasn't it? He could have been dirt biking with Robby and Miguel. He could have been helping Yaya stuff those chilies with cheese with watering eyes and stinging fingers for tonight's birthday dinner. Hell, he could have taken advantage of some alone time and gone surfing on his own on some secluded beach off PCH. But no, here he was outside of one of the LaRusso Auto dealers to pick Carmen up. Carmen, who did not have her phone on her because she was trying to ruin Johnny's very carefully, very _painfully_ put together life by making him walk through the dealership to find her. 

Well. That life debt Johnny had been trying to work off to the Diaz women was about to be fulfilled, so there was that he supposed. The 20 minutes he spent scoping out the place didn't answer any questions he had, so maybe he could get in and out without anyone the wiser. 

Maybe. 

Fuck. 

Johnny dragged himself out of the car and took a deep breath to center himself. He could do this. He was not a pussy. He was a grown ass man. He had grown past LaRusso and all of the issues he had with him once and he was going to go in there and be a grown ass man. Then he was going to drag Carmen out of there, goddamnit. 

Pulling the door open, he was immediately hit by the AC. The walk from the car wasn't long but it didn't take much in the California summer. 

“Yeah, hi excuse me-” he started but was cut off by the receptionist holding a hand up to him. “Look lady I need-”

“We completely understand Mr. Martin and we’ll make sure to get you with Anoush right away when you come on tomorrow. Thank you! Bye now.” the receptionist said in a chipper voice, all the while glaring Johnny down. 

“How can I help you now that I'm off the phone young man?” she said, her voice nowhere near as chipper as it had been just a minute before. 

“Look lady, I'm just here to pick up a friend. Car broke down and she was brought here. Where do I go to get her?” Johnny asked shortly. He was not in the mood to get sassed and the longer he stayed in one spot the more his mood soured. He darted a look around one more time but still saw nothing. 

“Let me get someone to escort you over to our maintenance department.” the lady -Marjorie according to her nametag- replied. 

“No! No that's fine, just point me in the right direction.” Johnny insisted glancing over his shoulder to see if his outburst had caught anyone's attention. There was no way he wanted to draw attention or interact with more people here than he had to. 

“I insist” she replied sharply, sweeping her eyes down his form and wrinkling her nose. 

Johnny looked down at himself and saw what she was seeing. His Van Halen T shirt was old and faded with a few plaster stains and some holes in the bottom. The jeans he had thrown on were his weekend dad jeans. They were older than Robbie, and it showed. They had frayed pockets and worn out knees from years of hard work, with paint splattered all over them. He was sure his hair was a mess since he had not combed it before leaving the house. He had stayed up late last night swimming with some of his baby cobras so he knew his eyes were chlorine red and his skin was dry and cracking. He looked like a mess. A poor mess. 

“Look lady, Marjorie” he hissed “ I’m here for Carmen Diaz, ok? I don't want any trouble I just wanna get the fuck out of this place ok? So either point me where I need to go or I'll find it myself.” 

“Is there a problem here?” a voice called behind him.

“No problem Mrs. LaRusso, I'm just going to get Louie to show this” she paused, eying Johnny again “gentleman, here to maintenance to pick up his” she paused again- fucking bitch “friend.” Marjorie said flatly. 

Johnny bristled and turned to face LaRusso’s wife. His very pretty, very tall, very brunette, wife. 

“I don't need an escort, I just need to get my friend and get out of this place. I can find my own way there. Excuse me.” with that Johnny walked away. If the Mrs. was here there was a good chance the Mr. was too and Johnny was over this fucking place. 

Carmen was gonna be owing him this time around. 

“Maintenance is the other way.” wife LaRusso called out. Johnny stopped to look at her over his shoulder. She was smiling, not unkindly. He didn't like the look of it. It looked too amused at Johnny's expense for someone who didn't know him. “The waiting rooms are back and around this way.” 

“Thanks,“ he huffed, turning around and headed the way she pointed. He shot a dirty look at goddamned Marjorie on the way “wasn't so hard was it?” 

Johnny could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He already spent way too long in this damn place and he wanted out, out, out. He saw Carmen as soon as he rounded the corner. 

“Psst Diaz” he whisper shouted, desperate not to gain anymore attention “let's blow this popsicle stand” Carmen only gave him a brief look before rolling her eyes and putting the magazine down. Johnny’s legs felt like ants were crawling all over them as he looked behind himself. God this fucking place was making his skin itch in anxiety. 

“Que tienes?” Carmen said as she walked up to him.

“Nothing’s wrong with me” he said grabbing her by the arm to pull her out of there “ I was up all night with those damn kids. You would know if you had not abandoned me to the horde. Did you know that Tory and Hawk were dating? Cuz I do. Wanna know how I found out?” Carmen only laughed at his misfortune. He did not remember truth or dare being quite so brutal in his day. He also wouldn't have been caught dead partying with his dad, his godfather, or his Sensei so who knew with kids these days. 

Carmen laughed, high and care free. Johnny loved when she laughed. It was such a departure from when he first met her, pregnant and crying in her car at 3 in the morning. Meeting her and Yaya had completely turned his life upside down in the best way and he shuddered to think of the sad deadbeat dad alcoholic he could have been without them. But right now that laugh was drawing attention. He could already see fucking Marjorie up ahead giving him the stink eye. 

He flipped her off. 

Carmen grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Johnny really?” 

“Whatever just come on,” he said, pushing her closer to the door only to stumble when his phone rang out. 

“DAD! DAD! DADDY! DADA! POP! POP! POPPA!” screamed out from his back pocket and Johnny cursed. 

“I'm going to kill that boy!” he hissed “I told Robby to quit fucking with these damn tone things! He knows I can't change them back” Johnny caught himself against Carmen and tried yanking his phone from his pocket roughly dropping it behind him in the process. Johnny let out a sigh before dragging a hand down his face. He saw Carmen looking at someone behind him and he knew any luck he had so far was about to run out. 

“Go get in the car Carmen, I’ll be right there” he told her tiredly, already turning around and locking eyes with Daniel LaRusso for the first time since he was 18 years old and beyond stupid. He saw the smile on his face fade as recognition dawned on him. Daniel’s mouth fell open slightly and the hand holding out Johnny's dropped phone fell back to his side. Behind him Carmen had not moved. She wasn't stupid and he was sure she could tell something was going on. 

“Now, Carmen. Please” he said, without taking his eyes off the man in front of him. He heard the door open and close with a rush of cold air behind him and closed his eyes. This was ok. This was not what he wanted but it was ok. He held his hand out for the phone. 

“Johnny.” Daniel said haltingly and Johnny snapped his eyes open. He hated how his name sounded in Daniels mouth. Hard and rough like he hadn't said it for years but sweet and gentle like it was welcomed back greedily. 

Jesus fuck he needed guy friends that weren't his now 16 year old son or godson.

“No,” Johnny said. He was not going to do this. He had known for a fact that Daniel was back in the valley for at least 20 years now and while he had not gone out of his way to avoid him per se, he had made sure not to be anywhere Daniel was sure to be. Like his dealerships or any of the all valley tournaments. He hadn’t spoken to him in 32 years and he didn't want to start now. He reached out and yanked the phone out of his hand and turned away. 

“Wait! Johnny wait!” Daniel said. He grabbed Johnny’s arm as Johnny pushed the door open. Johnny shook him off and looked him in the eye. 

“No.” 

With that he left. He knew Daniel was watching him walk away. The door hadn't closed behind him. The drone of the large overhead fan rang in Johnny's ears and made the white noise in his head even louder. In front of him Carmen leaned against the car. The worried look on her face as she looked between him and whatever scene was being made behind him made his gut clench. Daniel was still there. Johnny unlocked the car and opened the door for her. 

“Is everything ok?” she asked softly.

Johnny couldn't say anything, he just shook his head and avoided her eyes. He felt her hand on his cheek and looked up at her. Whatever his face told her made her sigh and wrap her arms around him before getting in the car. Johnny shut the door and walked around to the driver side without making a sound. He couldn't help but look up before getting in the car. Daniel was still standing there in his fancy suit with the door open. He couldn't make out his face from across the parking lot but he knew he was watching. Johnny got in the car. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Carmen asked. 

“No.” Johnny said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy that chapter I received such a great response! I really hope this chapter lives up to expectations. Personally I loved writing this one. There's a lot of backstory in this one so please enjoy!

Then.

Johnny laid spread eagled on the beach next to a bottle of Jack Daniels he had managed to grab when Sid wasn't looking. He could still hear Sid yelling at him to leave, throwing all of his letters in his face. His mom had been crying and begging Sid to change his mind but it was no good. He was lucky she had the foresight to pack him a bag of his things. He wondered just how much shit Sid had said before he had gotten home. Johnny would have to make sure to call her as soon as he could. He was lucky she had long ago convinced Sid to open a college fund no one but Johnny could touch. He had to wait a full week before he turned 18 to access it but that was ok. He could manage a week by himself at the beach. He had to be careful not to worry anyone, but one week would be easy probably. It wasn't like he had any friends at this point. Fucking Dutch had really screwed him over on that one. He couldn't believe how shitty everything was going. Kicked out of his house, probably lost most if not all of his friends, Cobra Kai and Kreese had been gone since All-Valley but that was just one more thing to add to the shit. Johnny never realized what being honest with himself and his feelings would cost him but thinking about what he gained, he thought maybe it would all work out. His mom was behind him, but she was too frail to risk Sid’s temper. That was ok, For now he had to find a phone. He had a phone call to make. 

Now. 

Johnny had used the little money his mother had managed to leave him to buy the Reseda Heights Apartments Carmen and Yaya lived in when he saw the condition it was in. He had still been living with Shannon at the time but it was more out of convenience for Robby than out of love. When Johnny had finally shown to her delivery room after 2 hours of talking to Carmen across the street , she had not been happy with him. She was pretty much never happy with him again. She had been skeptical about his change of heart and distrustful of his friendship with Carmen. 

The first couple of months had been the worst. He had met Carmen when she was 7 months pregnant, and by the time she was 9 months and going to weekly appointments he had been driving her to them instead of letting her take the bus. Shannon and Carmen eventually learned to get along, especially after Miguel was born and they were able to bond over the boys.

When Carmen asked him to be godfather to Miguel it had terrified, but also humbled him. If a woman as strong as Carmen thought he was a good enough father to his 3 month old to ask him to be godfather to her son too then maybe he was doing something right after all. 

In those three months he had never actually seen Carmen's apartment. He usually picked her up either at work, or at the school where she was getting her GED. When he finally did go over, with Robby and Shannon in tow, he had been disgusted by the state of the complex. He knew Carmen couldn't afford to leave and wouldn't take a hand out from Johnny so he excused himself from dinner and went to find the super. The old man had argued hotly with him, but Johnny wore him down enough to get the information for the owner. The owner, one Mr. Armand Zarkarian, had been all too willing to sell. So Johnny used the money his mother left him, there was barely enough to cover it all, to become the proud new owner/handyman to some slums in the middle of Reseda. 

5 years later, and one final break up with Shannon, he officially moved into the apartment across the way from Carmen .The year after that he had opened the Cobra Do Karate Dojo. He had entertained the thought of using the Cobra Kai name since Kreese had been long dead from what he had heard, but the chance of Daniel coming across it was not something he was willing to risk. So Cobra Do it was. A dojo for students 10 and under. He had been teaching Robby and Miguel in his living room since they had both turned 5 and he figured adding a few more kids wouldn't be too bad. 

Shannon and Carmen had both laughed in his face after his first week of full classes. 

10 years later Cobra Do was still open, and the ages now went up to 18, with Miguel or Robby teaching the younger kids with his very minimal supervision. Carmen helped with the paperwork once a week and Johnny taught the older kids. Strike Smart, Strike Hard, No Retreat. His baby cobras would never be bullied or grow to be bullies themselves. No, they would be smarter than Johnny ever was with his fists. 

He had seen the long lasting effects being bullied could have every time Carmen flinched when Johnny moved too fast around her even years after knowing him. It had made him remember the look on Ali’s face that day on the beach so many years before. It made him wonder if she had really thought so little of him to think he would actually hit her. Bullies grew into men like Sid and Carmen’s ex and he would never allow his boys to go down that road. Johnny shuddered when he thought about how close he could have come had he stayed on the path Kreese had put him on. He learned so much in the time after the tournament and it had changed everything for him no matter how it ended. 

It had taken years to reconnect with Bobby after the disaster with Dutch. He had reached out when Johnny's mom passed and had given him his number in case he wanted to talk. Johnny had called him after Robby was born and again after being made Miguel’s godfather. He had been terrified of becoming his own deadbeat dad, or even worse Sid or Kreese. That had been the only example of a father he had. But Bobby calmed him down and reminded him that his mother had been on her own for years before Sid, and Johnny had never felt the need for more. He could use her as an example of what a parent was supposed to be. Really, as much as Johnny credited Carmen for his come to Jesus moment, he had to give Bobby credit for keeping his head when it mattered. 

*********  
So now here he was, 2 weeks post-LaRusso sighting and just beginning to relax. He had spent the first week on the edge, waiting for the shoe to drop. For Daniel to come waltzing into Cobra Do, or pounding on his door at Reseda Heights. His time was split pretty evenly between sensei and handyman and he was usually found at one or the other on any given day. Shannon, Carmen, and Bobby all loved to tell him how sorry his love life was since most nights were spent at home with Robby, Miguel, or both. 

He was finally crawling out of his hole because the boys had reminded him he had promised to take the littlest cobras on a small “hike” at lake balboa and all the parents who had agreed to chaperone had already cleared their schedules for them. Some of his original baby cobras were going with them to do some demonstrations for the kids. Bobby and Johnny had done them every year when the baby cobras were smaller. Now that some of them had grown, they were taking over. 

“Alright listen up, everyone will follow Sensei Miguel and Sensei Robby. They will head the pack. Moms and Dads will follow along at the side to make sure no one gets off the path. I will be behind everyone to pick up any stragglers. Will we have any stragglers?” Johnny paused, waiting for a response. 

“No Sensei!” came a chorus of 6 to 10 year old's.

“No, there will not.” he said sternly “Will anyone get off the path?”

“No Sensei!”

“Good, now. This hike will test your endurance. Cobra’s don't retreat. Cobra’s strike hard. Cobra’s strike smarter than their prey. Being smart means paying attention to what’s going on around you. You can only strike at what you can see. We have hidden markers on the path, and off the path for you to collect. I know exactly how many are on the path and how many are off. Your job is to follow the rules laid out for you. If you fall behind to collect a marker, you’ll be disqualified. If you leave the path to collect a marker. You will be disqualified. Each parent knows where the off path markers are and the rest of Cobra Do is in the woods surrounding us. If you somehow manage to get lost, you will stop where you are and use your whistle to call for help. Do not move from your spot until someone comes to get you. Do not leave that spot until I meet with you and your rescuer. Am I understood?”

“Yes Sensei!” 

“Again!” 

“Yes Sensei!”

“One more time!”

“Yes Sensei”

“Very good! Robby, Miguel. Let's move”

He watched as Robby and Miguel led the children onto the path and down the hill. The area was not heavily wooded. The chance of someone actually getting lost was low and they had almost as many chaperones as kids when he counted the boys, and himself, not counting the others in the surrounding area, but it was still a nerve wracking experience to be entrusted with so many children at once. It had become easier on him once his baby cobras were older but in these times it was especially precarious to not have eyes on the kids at all times. 

“Have you ever actually lost any of them?” asked a parent of one of the 10 year old's who had been coming to Cobra Do for years. 

“Na of course not, but I did lose Robby at a farmers market once. Most terrified I'd ever been in my life. Plus his mom never let me live it down.” 

She laughed at him softly “it's not funny at all sorry I know its not, I just can't imagine you at a farmers market.” 

Johnny smiled “yeah it was more my ex boyfriends thing really. But hey that's my cue. I'll see you back here in 3 hours.” with that he left her to jog after the last Cobra.

The hike through the park took an hour and each of the kids had found at least 3 markers on their own. It taught them to always be conscious of their surroundings even when they were in a new place and had to pay attention to something else. It taught them to look at every little thing that would lead to victory. He may not let his Cobras compete in the tournaments but that didn't mean that there were no winners and losers in Cobra Do. Though the punishment for losing was never as harsh as his had been. Johnny always made sure his in-house tournaments were open to all the kids and spanned several days before and after the All-Valley Tournament to keep their attention in house. 10 years in and he wasn't actually sure if either Miguel or Robby even knew about the All-Valley. 

An hour of walking and one 10 minute break for the kids later, and it was time for older Cobras to get ready. He called them all back to attention and set the youngest kids around them in a wide circle. For some of them it would be the first time they would see a full contact fight. 

“Alright, Robby and Miguel up first.” 

Robby and Miguel moved towards each other and bowed before each taking a stance. They had trained together since the very beginning and were the most evenly matched among all the Cobras. They moved into each other gracefully, each knowing exactly what the other was going to do. 

Johnny watched them with pride, and not a small amount of dread. 

They were beautiful and perfect. Too perfect. They knew everything about each other. How they moved and how they thought. They kept dodging and moving around each other like water. Their strikes and counterstrikes hardly glancing off of each other when they made contact, if they made contact at all. It was beautiful, but ineffective. 

It wasn't the first time Johnny wondered if he was doing the right thing keeping them from competing. All of his students had trained and learned together for years. There was the occasional transfer or new student they got who needed to be trained or caught up to the Cobra Do standard but for the most part they all learned everything together. 

“Enough! Eli and Tori, next up!” 

He watched them move less gracefully with each other than the boys, but no less comfortable with each other. The same went for the next pair. And the next. Each set he had move forward with was perfectly capable and moved in sync with each other. Johnny knew he was likely seeing smoke where there was none but he couldn't help but worry about what would happen if some of the kids noticed the same thing.

“Enough!” he shouted far too soon into the latest bout “ Robby, Miguel upfront. Take the kids through a set. Baby Cobras fall in behind them.” he heard the older kids groan. They had long since resigned themselves to always being called baby cobras as a group, but that didn't mean they had to like it. 

“Hey Max, can you keep an eye in things here? I'm gonna take a walk and take a leak before we gotta head back down.”

Max smiled wolfishly at him. If Johnny had not vowed long ago to never date a parent he might have even enjoyed the smile. As it was he had known Tori’s dad for far too long to let it faze him 

“Sure thing Sensei Lawrence”

“Yeah thanks”

With that Johnny took off into the trees. He needed to be far enough away so no one could see him before he could let himself have a mental breakdown. Breakdown now, figure his shit out later. It had worked for him in the past and he was going to have to make it work now too. Once he could no longer hear Miguel’s voice ringing out behind him he let himself slow down and lean against a tree. He was just on the edge of a clearing with a few families spread out for picnics. The tables were spread out evenly and the sound of all different voices drowned out Johnny’s own worried one. 

Without warning, a frisbee hit him on head making him jolt out of his stupor. Confused, and not a little miffed he looked down at the plastic yellow frisbee on the floor next to him. 

“Ah hey man sorry about that, I told my dad I couldn't catch this thing but he never listens ya know” said a small voice next to him. Johnny turned to look and found himself looking into big brown eyes. The kid was young, maybe 10 years old, but he was tall and not a little bit on the heavier side. Baby fat, the way he carried it, he’d even out when he hit a growth spurt probably. 

“Uh can I get my frisbee?” the kid said warily. Johnny realized he hadn't said anything to the kid yet.

“Yeah kid, here you go.” he said as he picked up the offending frisbee and offered it out to the kid.

“Anthony!” a voice yelled out. Not just any voice though. Of course not. There was no way he was going to get that lucky. 

Looking up he saw none other than Daniel Larruso walking up to him again for the second time in 2 weeks. He and Daniel made eye contact and Daniel made the same face he did last time. All shock and awe, and a little bit of apprehension. 

“Anthony why don't you take this back to the table. Tell your mom I said you could take out your game to play, I think we are done with this thing anyways.” Daniel said, never once taking his eyes off Johnny. 

Johnny saw the kid shoot looks between his dad and Johnny but he chose to ignore it. He was not in any way prepared to deal with LaRusso let alone one his offspring. With a shrug the boy walked away, throwing one final look over his shoulder. Daniel didn't bother to make sure he got back to his mom. He was still looking at Johnny.

“Johnny, what? What are you doing here? I tried to look for you after last time but it was a company vehicle so I couldn't”

“Jesus LaRusso, Stalker much? Don't you dare use Carmen's information to find me you got that? Stay away from her.” he growled. Carmen was careful what information she allowed to go where. It was why she didn't have her own car, and why her cell was in Yaya’s maiden name. 

Daniel swallowed harshly “Yeah uh” he cleared his throat “yeah of course sorry. I just uh. I wanted to talk to you. I never saw you again after-”

“Stop!” Johnny yelled and winced at the volume “I gotta go” he spat. 

“Wait Johnny please let me just-can't you just let me talk to you for a minute?"

“Don’t you got a wife out there to talk to LaRusso?” Johnny threw back harshly. 

That made Daniel mad apparently, if the way his eyes widened, then narrowed was any indication. And it absolutely always was.

“Well I never would have had a wife if-”

“Dad!” Robby’s voice called out, stopping Daniel mid probably life wrecking sentence. Johnny managed to pull his too wide eyes away from Daniel. 

“Hey there you are old man we gotta get going if we're gonna make it back to the parking lot on time” Robby called when he spotted them.

Johnny looked back at Daniel who was already looking at him with defeated, sad eyes. Not taking his eyes off him he answered Robby. 

“I’m right here Robby, lets go.” 

Johnny turned around and walked up to Robby, who was giving him a quizzical look not unlike the one Daniel’s kid had given them. He wondered what they saw or thought they saw. Two middle aged men staring at each other with too much life between them. Two strangers with separate lives that intersected in this one point. Johnny could already tell this wasn't going to be the end of it. 

Johnny wrapped his arm around Robby and steered him back to their group asking him how the rest of their set had gone. He was going to ignore the eyes he could feel still focused in the back of his head. He always could tell when Daniel was staring at him. He was also going to ignore whatever Daniel had been about to say when he was interrupted. He could always tell when Daniel was lying too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont mean to keep throwing Daniel in as a teaser at the end! it really just happened! but dont worry next chapter comes with actual conversation!


	3. Chapter 3

Then

Johnny laid back on his bed with his eyes closed and his fingertips running over his lips. He could feel them curled up in some stupid smile but really he couldn’t help himself. His night hadn't exactly ended the way he had expected it to but he wasn't complaining. Truthfully, it could have gone worse. Later there would be time to freak out. Later he would come down from his high and wonder what the fuck had happened and how he had found himself pinned to the side of his car in some empty parking lot in the middle of the night. Later he would agonize about whether he could, or even wanted to , count the tentative agreement to hang out on Saturday as a date. But right now he was going to enjoy the moment, thinking of the best damn kiss he had ever gotten. The way hands had yanked on the collar of his jacket to bring him close, but insistent hips had kept his legs spread wide to make room for the body pushing him against the hard car door. Right now the only thing on his mind was going to be the hard press of forehead to forehead while he looked at that small shy smile. It was the prettiest one he had ever seen , crooked teeth and all. 

Now. 

Johnny dropped Robby off with his mom before making his way home with only Miguel in the seat next to him. He had been quiet and subdued ever since leaving the park and he knew the boys had picked up on it. He had seen Robbie texting Miguel from the front seat and saw them trying to exchange a look through the rearview mirror. He couldn't guess what Robbie thought he saw back there, or what he had told Miguel about it. 

“You ok Tio?” Miguel asked 

“I’m good kid, just a little tired. Didn't get much sleep last night ya know.” Johnny replied, not taking his eyes off the road. It was true, he hadn't. He had gone to a bar for the third night in a row. He had decided to take advantage of having the apartment to himself for the summer, with Robbie spending the duration of it with his mom. He saw him all the time anyways because of karate, but it made Shannon happy.

Really most days he’d do anything to keep her from getting pissy. 

“Oh uh yeah, I should have figured that. I saw her coming out of your place this morning.” Miguel flushed furiously at the admission. 

Johnny raised an eyebrow at him.

“No shit, did you? Sorry kid. And you know; don't tell your mom” Johnny said, with Miguel joining him at the end. 

They both laughed. 

“I don't know why you bother trying to keep any of it from her. She always catches you out anyways you know.” Miguel told him with a roll of his eyes. 

And god, wasn't that the truth , Johnny thought. 

Carmen always caught him in his bullshit. She always knew about his one night stands and his drinking binges when Robby was gone. 16 years ago she had known that Johnny was full of shit when he said his kid was better off without him, and 13 years ago she had known he was full of shit when he said he didn't like men like that. So what if she had caught him looking at their small brunette waiter? She always saw through him and laughed at him about it all. Carmen saw the best of him and he always felt guilty when he even thought he was letting her down. 

“You know she’s been trying to set me up with that Ben guy from her job. Don't wanna hear her get sassy with me about how Ben would have been cheaper to pick up.”

“To be fair Ben probably would have paid for your drinks last night so she’s not wrong” Miguel laughed. 

“He’s so boring though!” Johnny whined “that company picnic last year all he talked about was feet!”

Miguel only laughed harder “ He’s a podiatrist! a foot doctor” he clarified when he caught the confused look Johnny sent him. 

“Well if he’s a doctor what's he want with some small time Karate Sensei huh? Besides he’s a ginger.” 

“What's wrong with redheads? Redheads are hot Tio, you're missing out.” 

“Redheads are hot, yes, and a redheaded babe I'd be totally down for. But dudes ain't exactly known for trimming down the landscape and a firecrotch is pretty much the opposite of hot.” Johnny explained with faux gravity. 

He ignored the horrified look he was getting from Miguel. He was old enough to know things. Besides Carmen and Shannon had already made Johnny give the boys the "Condom or STD’s and Babies" talk two years ago when they shoved him in a room with them and a box of trojans. 

That was real trauma for everyone involved. Some days he could still hear Carmen and Shannon laughing through the door at him. 

Miguel would be fine. 

“Christ, that was not an image I needed to see! I'll never look at Ben the same.” Miguel lamented scooting down in his seat. 

Johnny laughed at him from the driver seat. When he parked he reached over and pulled Miguel in for a hug. Pulling back he looked at his face and any words he had dried in his mouth. He looked into Miguel's brown eyes, lighter with golden flecks, and saw another pair looking back at him. 

All at once the whole ordeal came back to him, Daniel’s eyes in the dealership two weeks ago, and again today. 

His eyes smiling in the rain, happy and carefree, so many years ago. 

He pulled back and forced a smile “Come on, lets go tell your mom we lost one of the little ones and watch her freak out.” he said

____

With school starting back up the next couple of weeks flew by. Before Johnny knew it he had Miguel in the passenger seat ready to take him to his first day of junior year. Shannon would be dropping Robby off there and Carmen was picking them up after work to bring them home.. 

It really took a whole damn village most days. 

They were running about an hour early, as usual for the first day. All the original baby cobras that grew up next to Robby and Miguel were a bit too codependent if you asked him but he wasn't about to piss them off by dropping them off too late to compare schedules. 

“Bert’s a freshman this year too so we gotta make sure he finds his locker and can get to all his classes ok.” Miguel was saying next to him. 

“Don't forget the kid has his own friends from middle school to help him too” Johnny rolled his eyes.

Miguel stopped as he was shutting the door “ You don't think he’s gonna wanna hang out with us?”

Johnny shrugged. He doubted that would be the case. Both Robby and Miguel had plenty of friends between the two of them, he couldn't imagine being a freshman and not wanting to make it known he was associated with them. 

“Just be smart Miguel, you and Robby both. New year, new you” he said with a grin. 

Miguel just rolled his eyes “That was embarrassing” he mumbled, finally shutting the door.

Johnny looked around noting that there were no other cars around at the moment, Aisha’s mom having just dropped her off to the others. Smiling, he jumped out of the car and went after Miguel. In front of them he could see the rest of them waiting for him, eyeing Johnny curiously. 

Miguel must have noticed the looks as he came up to them.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked

“Oh man I don’t even want to know what you did.?” Robby taunted with a wide grin that matched Johnny’s

"¡Miguelcito, mi amor! Que tengas buen dia, pequeño. Te voy extrañar tanto cuando ya no estes en mis brazos, amor." Johnny cried dramatically while reaching for Miguel. He pulled him close, clutching his head to his chest the way he had seen on Yaya 's novelas. 

The group burst out laughing while Robby snapped a picture and Miguel worked to extract himself. Johnny pinned the arm that had gone for his ribs easily, and laid a wet kiss to Miguel's face. 

He ignored the cry of outrage and reached out for a laughing Robby who saw him too late to do anything about it. Robby squawked in protest, but did not put up a fight. 

Johnny let go of the vice grip on Miguel and settled for giving both boys a hug. Of course the other's gave him small hugs as well before they all headed into the school. If Bert clung a little longer Johnny wasn't going to point it out to him. 

He’d tell him to man up tomorrow. 

“Miguelcito!” he called out once more when they were at the top of the steps. 

Miguel and Robby stopped and looked back at him, though Miguel was decidedly more red in the face.

“What?” he hissed, looking around anxiously. Johnny noticed a few more kids and parents had arrived but he didn’t care. 

“Don't forget your mom is going to be picking you boys up today after school. Do not make her wait too long for you guys, please. You know she’ll need her rest after her shift.”

When both boys nodded and headed into school, Johnny stood watching them catch up to the rest of the baby cobras. Of them, Bert was the youngest and the last to get to high school. Johnny sighed realizing it probably meant he was getting old. 

A voice sounded next to him “They seem like good boys, you must be very proud.”

Johnny sighed and turned around. “Fancy seeing you here LaRusso. You know, since you know, I never have before, “ 

Daniel took the accusation in stride, nodding slightly.

“I usually let Amanda take care of drop off but well, I” Daniel trailed off. His eyes stared into Johnny’s and he couldn’t help but remember every memory he had of the two of them playing on a loop in his head. 

Funny he had always thought he didn't have enough memories of Daniel but standing there looking into big soft bambi brown eyes he realized what he had was enough to do damage. He tore his eyes away from Daniel and looked of towards the parking lot where his car waited for him. 

"What do you want LaRusso?"

Daniel straightened up, seemingly finding his courage “Look John I'm not going to lie about coming here hoping I would see you-" he held up a hand stopping anything Johnny was going to say. " Johnny please, you disappeared over thirty years ago, and then you show up like some sort of fever dream. I just want to talk. Please?" 

“I didn’t disappear LaRusso, I moved on with my life. Started over. I’m sure you know all about that.” Johnny snapped. 

Daniel looked like he had been slapped, something like greif briefly marring his features. It was gone in seconds but not before Johnny saw it. 

“Just to talk, Johnny please?” he pleaded, looking up at Johnny through his eyelashes, his teeth digging into his bottom lip.

Johnny groaned. "Dammnit LaRusso don't gimme that look, fine! We can talk, just, you know, not here." 

Daniel gave him a wide smile. 

"OK yeah, yes? Perfect. Awesome. Ok uh, how about the diner down off of sixth street? Say, 10 minutes?" He beamed. 

Christ, Johnny needed to go back to sleep. Daniel’s over expressive face was going to give him a headache

"OK, yeah sure, 10 minutes." He said scrubbing a hand down his face "but you get one hour, then you gotta go back to that pretty wife of yours. Got it?" He pushed his fingers into Daniels surprisingly firm chest 

Daniel scowled briefly before a guilt and shame washed over his face. Both were quickly wiped away just as fast as they came. Honestly how this guy was some big shot car salesman was beyond him, the guy read like an open book. 

"Ok one hour." He said with a hard set to his jaw. He nodded once then headed back to the parking lot. 

Johnny sighed, pulling out his keys. It was just an hour. He would be fine. 

Right.  
\----

It only took a few minutes to get to the diner, 10 minutes was excessive Johnny thought. It probably gave Daniel enough time to call his wife with some excuse about why he was going to be late though. 

Whatever. 

Johnny didn't want to think about that. Or think about why it made him feel squirmy in his chest. If Daniel wanted to lie to his wife about what he was doing then that's fine. That was on Daniel, not on Johnny. And who knew, maybe Daniel was being honest with her. Johnny snorted at the thought. Yeah he could see that going down real well ‘Honey, the man who used to beat me relentlessly, then I beat him, then he almost died, then he came to apologize for being a bitch, then-’ yeah no, he was gonna stop those thoughts right fucking there. 

Johnny sighed and ran both hands over his face. Taking a deep breath he got out of his car. He tried to always park in the same spot whenever he came here. Back corner spot under the giant tree. It’s where he had found Carmen all those years ago. Sitting on the floor in a dirty parking lot, pregnant and crying. Johnny had had no idea what to do but even as drunk and useless as he had been at the time he knew he had to at least get her off the floor and out of the light summer rain. 

Carmen had thanked him, asked for his name, then asked for his story. And he had told her everything. Almost everything. He had told her enough and she had listened to everything with a sympathetic ear he had had no idea he needed. She listened about his mom passing, growing up with a drunk Sid, about Kreese and being so sure he would be dead at 17. About being kicked out, humiliated and alone. She listened to him haltingly tell her about finding a place to stay and having the summer of his life before it all came crashing down again and how he wasn't sure anything had ever gotten better after that. 

When he told her about Robbie and Shannon she had grown quiet. By that point Johnny had been nearly hyperventilating and hadn't even noticed. Not until she snapped him out of his downward spiral. 

“So you're saying that you had terrible men in your life, and your solution is to become a terrible man in your son's life? Mira, Johnny, look. I don't know you, not at all. But what I do know is that you are a man in great pain, that's just looking for a little healing. Children are miracles, and healing all manner of heartache is what they do. Believe me I should know” she had said softly with a smile and a small pat for her belly “ Johnny I have had terrible men in my life too, beginning with my father and ending with my husband. I know bad men, and you are not one of them. Men who can cry at the loss of love in their life are not terrible men. They are men who have made bad choices. They are men who can still make good choices.”

Johnny had been hooked immediately. He was sure if he hadn't had Shannon and Robbie on his mind he would have fallen in love happily ever after right then. 

He and Carmen had spoken for a bit more before he had mentioned Shannon being in labor right then. Pregnant Carmen dragging Johnny into the hospital across the street was a memory even some of the staff still laughed at.

Johnny leaned on his hood and smiled at the memory. 

“What’s so funny?” Daniel asked beside him. 

Johnny kept smiling “Carmen and I met here actually. It's still our spot for a midnight snack sometimes”

Johnny didn't want to look up at Daniel. He didn't want to acknowledge things he already knew about the man or marvel over all the differences 30 plus years had made. He knew what was different about himself. Softer belly, thinner hair, wrinkles around his eyes. He wondered what Daniel thought of those differences. How did he hold up against the Johnny Lawrence of Daniel’s memories?

“We could have gone somewhere else” Daniel said with an odd pitch to his voice. 

“Nah, this is good. It’s been a busy summer and we haven't had time to come in a while.” Johnny waved him off.

“I mean really I’m pretty sure there’s something else around here, I wouldn't want to intrude.” Daniel mumbled. 

Johnny finally looked up at him, but Daniel was looking past him, avoiding eye contact. Fucking pansy ass. 

“Look LaRusso, this little chat was your idea after all ok, let’s just go in and get this over with. Your hour has already started anyways.” 

Now Daniel looked at him. “So I'm just LaRusso again am I?” 

Johnny straightened up, pushing away from the car he had been leaning against. 

“It’s been a hell of a long time since you were anything else, and we are not going to talk about that. We talk about the here and now or we don't talk at all got it?” 

“Damnit Johnny that isn't fair! I haven't seen or heard from you in more than 30 years. It's been a whole lifetime since then and I deserve some answers! I need to know why.” he yelled pushing towards Johnny.

Johnny wasn't going to let Daniel get the best of him. Not after everything he had gone through. Johnny refused to be the bad guy in this. 

“You seem to have had a perfectly fine lifetime, LaRusso, so who gives a fuck why, huh," Johnny sneered " and maybe if you used that brain you got in that pretty little head of yours you’d figure it out.”

“Who gives a fuck? I obviously give a fuck! You were just gone Johnny! What was I supposed to think? I couldn't go to your friends, your mom wouldn't tell me anything, I had no clue what had happened!” Daniel cried, grabbing Johnny's shoulders roughly.

Johnny shoved him back. He was so close he could feel the heat of him all along his front. 

“What fucking friends LaRusso?” Johnny exploded “I didn't have any of those left remember? But of course that didn't affect you directly so why would you even think about it right? As long as it does not cause any problems in Daniel LaRusso’s life then it may as well not even exist. Get off your high horse, man. If you were that worried about me you would have found me. I didn't even try to hide where I was going”

“That's not fair Johnny, I did care about that! You know I did!”

“Yeah you said you did alright, but you couldn't wait to leave the second you could right?”

Daniel took a deep breath, glaring at Johnny. He stood his ground though. He would not be cowed to Daniel LaRusso. Not this time

" I had to Johnny, you know that.” he said through gritted teeth. 

“No, you didn't. You wanted to. To go and have yourself a little adventure no matter what you were leaving behind. Didn't think anything about us poor losers back here in SoCal did you? Whole new life you got yourself. I'm surprised you even came back.” Johnny replied with a forced calm. 

"Of course I came back. I was always going to come back, Johnny." The confusion in Daniels' voice pissed him off again.

He had to get out of there. This was a conversation he had avoided for years and he was damn well not going to have anymore of it. Johnny clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white.

“This was a mistake. I should have known better. I'm leaving." He said flatly, turning back to his car. 

"Wait, Johnny come on." Daniel pleaded scrambling behind him, but Johnny ignored it. 

"Here and now right? Wha-what uh, if we do that. What if we shelve the rest?" He asked. 

“That’s what I just said and we couldn’t go 30 seconds without the rest. Nothing is going to change.”

“It’s just the two of us here, Johnny. I think we can do whatever we want.” Daniel said, the manipulative little shit. 

Johnny glared at him while the past echoed in his ears. 

This was going to be a mistake. 

"Fine, yeah." He sighed, already knowing he would regret it. "Just not today LaRusso. I'm too tired for this shit. And also I'm too pissed to even look at you anymore today"

"Saturday? We can meet wherever. Just maybe not here." Daniel said hopefully, a slight twist to his mouth as he looked over at the diner. 

Johnny raised an eyebrow "Nothing wrong with this place, I come here all the time wi-" 

"Yeah, yeah I know, all the time.” Daniel cut him off with an annoyed curl to his lip “Just, let's go somewhere else. Don't want to drive all the way to the school area if I don't have to ya know" he said.

"Fine, whatever. You know where Sal's is? The bar?" He continued when Daniel nodded " Seven, Saturday. Don't be late LaRusso. The Mrs. might accept some half assed excuses but I’m not as forgiving." 

"I'll be on time as long as you're there when I show up" he responded evenly, ignoring the jibe.

Johnny scowled at him before pulling his door shut. Mistake after mistake. If that wasn't the perfect depiction of Daniel Fucking LaRusso in his life he didn't know what was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, Johnny speaks spanish because who intertwines their life with a spanish speaker and doesn't learn?  
> I love the idea of Johnny loving to embarrass the boys and especially using spanish to do it.  
> "¡Miguelcito, mi amor! Que tengas buen dia, pequeño. Te voy extrañar tanto cuando ya no estes en mis brazos, amor." -"Miguel, my love, have a good day little one, im going to miss you so much when your not in my arms love"
> 
> yay real interaction between the boys and a promise for more! I wonder what Daniel's thinking though?  
> god these guys, Johnny may have grown up a lot but damn if Daniel doesn't just push his buttons, am I right?  
> i hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as i did writing it!  
> also i love redheads, but i couldn't pass on the Firecrotch comment! sorry!  
> thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the longest and possibly angstiest chapter yet. Also there's a ton of Johnny&Carmen so hopefully it lives up to the Hype! 
> 
> I wanted to give a huge shout out to Breyito for helping me out with my Spanish! I am a spanish speaker but ive never Written in spanish so i really appreciated their input. thank you!

Then.

As Johnny got off the bus all he could do was squint into the Texas sun. It had been the end of summer in California but that heat really had nothing on the dry, Texas heat assaulting him. He looked around at all the other boys disembarking next to him. They were all boys really, and expecting the next nine weeks to turn them into men. Army men, property of the US Military. This had not been his most well thought out plan but sitting with the old couple across the street from Miyagi’s place he had seen the photos of their son. And since he had been looking for a quick and easy way to get far from Mr. Miyagi’s place and the time it represented, he had jumped on the idea. It was so far away from where he had expected to be 2 weeks before it was almost laughable, but Johnny thought that maybe that was for the best. He saw rain and grey skies every time he closed his eyes. Maybe the Texas heat would help clear it out. Two months of not thinking for himself and another 4 years of someone else telling him what to do sounded just fine to him. Last time he made his own decision didn’t end so hotly for him. 

Now.

“Adonde vas?” 

Johnny jumped and dropped his keys while spinning around to see Carmen standing her doorway across from him. Why he had thought taking the unit right under her watchful eye had been a good thing at the time he had no idea. She was unbearably nosey at the best of times and now was not a good time to raise any alarms with her. 

“Nowhere” he threw back 

“Mentiroso”

“Shut up, I'm not lyin”

Carmen just stared at him with her judgy eyes watching him squirm. He held her gaze. Carmen could be stubborn and willful but so was Johnny damnit. Johnny noticed her clothes for the first time. She was wearing the leather jacket he had gifted her for Christmas a few years back over a bright red sundress that stopped way above the knee. It was still warm enough out not to be an issue and the jacket together with the knee high boots would be more than enough. Johnny smirked back at her. 

“And where are you going? You look hot. Did you let Shan take you shopping again? Don't think I've seen those particular fuck me boots.” he whistled at her, raking his eyes up and down her body. 

Sometimes he wondered why they never got together even after him and Shannon had finally called it quits for the last time, but he knew that as much as he loved her he could never _Love_ her. Not like that. Not like she deserved. He hadn't been able to love Shannon that way either and while he knew she forgave him for the years wasted, sometimes he still felt guilty for being so broken.

“Shut up, Johnny it's just a date. We are meeting at Sal’s, then going to dinner.”

Nope. 

Nopenopenopenope. 

“Is that right? Well ok then you have a good night, I'm just gonna uh head inside. Good talk. Stay safe or some shit. Don't give Miguel any siblings he’s not ready for.” Johnny called turning back to his door.

Like fuck was he going to meet Daniel somewhere Carmen might see. After the scene they made at the dealership he would never hear the end of it. He was lucky she hadn't been more demanding on the ride back home. 

She hadn't asked for any information and he had not offered any more than he needed too, 

Knew the guy once, don't know him anymore. Don't wanna talk to him. Lots of bad blood. 

She had not brought it up again. Thank god for her. 

“What? You were just getting ready to leave, I thought?” she asked him. Johnny could almost see the frown on her face even as he kept back to her.

“Na, I'm good. Just gonna do a night in.” 

“Johnny, what's wrong. Your acting stranger than usual.”

Johnny turned around at that.

“Hey, I resent that actually I just don't want to go anymore.” 

Carmen narrowed her eyes at him and gave him another once over. He was wearing his black jeans with a black t-shirt and his old cobra kai jacket. Nothing fancy. If the pants happen to be a little tighter around the ass and thigh and his shirts clung to him a little that wasn't his fault. It was the style. That's what Robby had told him last time they had gone shopping.

“Uh huh, fine. Well you can stay home if you want but i wanted to ask you if you could drop me off? That way I don't have to take my car.”

Fuck. 

Johnny sighed to himself. He wondered if Daniel would already be there when he got there. He wouldn't have to go in, just drop her off and come back home. But what would happen if they saw each other in the parking lot? If Carmen saw him she would want to stick around to make sure everything was ok. On the other hand if she didn't see him maybe Johnny could stay after all. It would be risky but maybe it could work out. maybe

Carmen didn’t know anything about Daniel, not really. He had never really gotten into detail with her when they had talked about his past as a grade-A asshole and his mini redemption arc afterwards. She knew he had gotten kicked out of his step dads place, that he had joined the army a few months after that. But he had kept the why’s and how's purposely vague. Even so many years after, those months after Daniel beat him and Kreese almost killed him were bittersweet and not something he wanted to get into. So he gave her enough details to sympathize but not enough to draw her own conclusions on one Daniel LaRusso. 

But his girl was smart, just like his mom had been way back when and he knew seeing them together was gonna lead to questions he didn't want to answer and conversations he was better off avoiding. But just like his mom there was no way Carmen would drop it if she thought she could help him in some way. 

Maybe that's why he could never love Carmen romantically. He saw his mom every time he looked at her. It made her unbearably precious to him and she held a spot in his heart he had been afraid would ice over when his mom passed. He never wanted to think about where he would have been if Carmen had not come along at the right time. If her and Yaya and Miguel and Robby and even Shannon hadn't been there every day with him whether he wanted it or not. 

Johnny looked at Carmen and knew he wouldn't be able to tell her no anyways. 

“Alright fine, but the boys have the car. Went over to Dmitri’s for movie night. Something about a ring I think? I don't know. You good with taking the bike? I’d hate to mess up that pretty hair princesa hermosa” he smirked. 

She rolled her eyes at him and slung the small purse she had across the opposite shoulder so it laid across her chest. 

“That’s fine with me, it’ll finish off my look I think even. Steve says he loves how my hair looks after sex.”

Johnny grimaced. 

“Christ woman TMI! That means too much information. Miguel told me.”

Carmen laughed at him and grabbed his hand to pull him around the side of the building where he kept his bike. It wasn't often she would ride with him on the Kawasaki but every once in a while she would let him take her for a spin. Both Robby and Miguel had a dirt bike each that they would take out to Bobby’s every so often. All the kids would spend the day riding, while the adults did some grilling. 

“Oh relax, and don't act like I didn't see that boy leave your place last week. He was a little young don't you think.” 

Johnny felt his cheeks burn, he really needed to not bring anyone to the house anymore. 

“He was a very respectable thirty something years old thank you very much. That's not that much younger than me.”

Johnny handed Carmen her helmet, a gleaming red that almost matched her dress, and watched as she put it on in case she needed help with the straps. 

“You keep telling yourself that John, I'm sure one day we will all forget just how old you are. Help me with the straps please.”

She always needed help with the straps. 

“You're in your thirties.” he said while clipping and tightening her helmet in place, making sure he tucked as much of her hair away as possible. 

Sex hair, jesus what the actual fuck. 

“You sayin your too young for me, Diaz?” he winked at her and yanked a piece of hair so it say in front of her eyes in retaliation.

“I'm thirty-nine. I’ll be forty in a few months.” she said pushing him away, laughing. 

Johnny went laughingly while he grabbed his own matte black helmet from the shelf and shoved it on his head. He smirked at her when he swung himself into the seat. The black and red of the motorcycle gleamed under him in the bright overhead lights. 

“Well, you don’t look a day over 33 princessa hermosa. Let's go.” and with that he snapped the visor down and turned on the engine.

Johnny felt her climb on behind and adjust her dress, tucking it in securely under her thighs. Once she was ready she leaned forward and squeezed him around the middle. Looking back at her one more time to make sure, Johnny revved the engine once and took off. 

Luckily , Sal’s bar wasn't too far away. It was a step up from a dive bar but was nothing too fancy. He had been going there for years and knew most of the regulars. They flew through the streets in silence, nothing but the air whipping past them and the deep rumble from the engine. The bike wasn't his preferred method of transportation but sometimes it was nice to go for a ride. Johnny was too old to pull some of the stunts he had as a kid but he still rode hard, and fast. 

The first time he had come home with the bike Carmen, Yaya, and Shannon thought he was crazy. He hadn’t had a bike since his dirt bike in high school and none of them had gone to Bobby’s with him to see him ride the dunes there. The boys of course had loved it, both asking for rides and pouting prettily when the women had vehemently objected. He had managed to coax Shannon into a ride eventually, handing her the extra helmet he had gotten for whoever was brave enough to go out with him. It had been years since he had had someone behind him and he briefly remembered Ali screaming and laughing in his ear way back when. They had all since gotten used to it, even if Yaya still refused to get on. 

Johnny sped up to catch a yellow, leaning hard into the turn. He felt Carmen tense behind him as the bike dipped down towards the pavement, her arms and legs squeezing tighter around him. Straightening out, he gave one of her hands a pat which only resulted in her digging her nails into him in retaliation. 

Johnny’s laugh was mostly muffled by his helmet, the rest lost to the wind. 

He had planned on being early and getting himself a few drinks, so they still managed to get there before seven. As he pulled into the parking lot he tried to scope out the rest of the cars to see if Daniel had arrived yet. The black sedan he drove earlier that week was inconspicuous enough that Johnny couldn't tell right away whether or not he was. He felt the tightening in his gut intensify as he pulled up to the front of the building where the designated spots were for motorcycles. 

As soon as Johnny cut the engine Carmen’s arms loosened around him. He held still as she got off, but scowled when she shoved at him. 

“Hey, what the hell.” he said as he took off his helmet locking it to the bars in front of him. 

He ran a hand through his blonde hair smoothing it down as best as he could. Next to him Carmen lifted her visor shooting him a look that was nowhere near as effective with most of her face covered. 

“You know what you did, Johnny! Ya, ayudame, come on help me out of this thing. Steve should be here any minute now.” 

Johnny was still straddling the bike, but he reached out and pulled her in by the lapel of her jacket. She came easily tipping her head back so he could untangle the strap from her curly hair and get it undone. He pulled it off of her head and watched as the rest of her hair tumbled down with a smile. He locked her helmet next to his and climbed off the bike after settling it on the kickstand. 

“Alright freshly fucked, where’s your man?” 

Johnny leaned against the bike and watched Carmen pull her phone out of her small purse and tap away at the screen, probably shooting Steve a message. It dinged after a few seconds with a reply. 

“He’s two lights away, he says. Damn i wanted to run into the bathroom.”

“Rookie mistake Princesa, you should have gone before we left the house.” he teased her, laughing at the annoyed smile on her face. 

“I just wanted to look at my hair after the ride.” she shot back, smile widening as she ruffled it even more. 

“Ugh don’t be gross please, jesus I don’t need to know anything about your sex life.”

“You're such a prude sometimes Johnny, I don't even understand how considering the uh, how you say, variety and frequency of your guests.” 

“Frequency, yeah right it’s not that bad.” he said, crossing his arms. 

She sobered looking at whatever expression was on his face. 

“Not usually, no. But you can’t deny it has been lately Johnny. Are you sure everything is ok?”

He really didn't know how to answer her. He had definitely been going out more often in the past few weeks. The guy from the week before had only been the latest in a string of one night stands recently. He hadn't tried to hook up with such regularity in years and he wasn't going to get into the reasons he had been so wired the last few months with her just yet. He scarcely wanted to admit to himself his reasoning. 

“Yeah, everything’s good.” he choked out “here let's fix some of this hair.” 

Johnny reached for her, smoothing down some of the fly aways she had missed and tucking one side behind her ear like he knew she liked. Carmen smiled and caught his hand. 

“It’s fine, I'll let you get back to your night. I’ll just text him to give me a few to run into the bathroom.”

Carmen leaned forward into him. With the heels on her boots she was almost as tall as he was. He closed his eyes and felt her drop a kiss to his forehead before walking away. 

He stayed where he was for a few more seconds, steeling his nerves and trying to quell any anxiousness. Righting himself he set the alarm on the bike and turned back towards the parking lot where he saw Daniel standing a few rows away. 

He moved towards him trying to get a read off his mood. Daniel's face was pinched, but it had been decades since Johnny had needed to read his face so he wasn't sure what the man was thinking.

“If you didn't want to come anymore LaRusso, you didn't need to show up just to let me down easy.”

In front of him Daniel scoffed. 

“I asked you here, of course I wanted to come.” he said, looking off towards the where Johnny had parked with a strange glint in his eyes. 

“Then what's wrong with your face? You wanted me to come right? Here I am.” Johnny spread his arms and motioned to himself, only realizing his mistake too late. 

Daniel looked straight at him, letting his gaze roll over Johnny’s body with something too close to appreciation for Johnny’s nerves. 

“Of _course_ I wanted you.” he said pointedly. 

__

__

He felt himself begin to flush turning his eyes away from Daniel and dropping his arms to his side. Johnny crossed his arms in front of his chest and cleared his throat ignoring the statement. 

“Whatever, let’s just go in.”

He saw Carmen getting into Steve’s car out of the corner of his eye and let out a small breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He waited a beat for them to pull onto the street before looking back at Daniel, only to find him still staring at him.

“Just come on.” he said and started towards the bar. 

When they got inside Johnny made eye contact with the bartender and signaled him for 2 drinks before moving further back to a table. He saw Daniel looking around after they sat down. He looked startled when the waitress showed up with a pitcher of beer and two glasses. 

“Oh uh, can I get a martini? Ice cold?” 

She smiled at him and nodded, before moving back to the bar. Johnny watched Daniel curiously. For someone so hellbent on them talking he didn't seem willing to initiate conversation. Well if that's how this was gonna go then fine by him. He had no idea what to even talk about with the man. Not really. Not anymore. Years ago it would have been easy, but years ago the person in front of him hadn't been a stranger. 

Daniel still hadn't stopped scanning the bar by the time his drink had shown up and it was putting Johnny on edge. 

“Waiting for someone?” he asked casually. 

His voice seemed to have startled the poor guy who jumped slightly before settling back into his seat. 

“No, are you?” he asked after a pause. Daniel’s eyes bored into him intently. 

“Uh no? You're the one who looks like he’s waiting for someone to pop in.”

Daniel seemed to deflate at that muttering a whatever under his breath. The next few minutes were spent in even more awkward silence. Both men glanced at each other every so often. Johnny tried to keep himself focused on his drink but it was hard when he could feel eyes on him every few seconds. Finally he huffed and downed the rest of the glass, reaching for the pitcher to refill himself. 

“Alright then as fun as this is I think we either need to talk or leave, and since you were so intent on the whole talking thing the other day, balls in your court.”

“Sorry, your right. I just” Daniel paused, looking like he was psyching himself up “it’s just, of course i want to talk to you. There’s so much I want to talk about. But I'm trying to play by your stupid rules so you don't run out on me, _again_ ” he said with a pointed glare.

Johnny scoffed “what, afraid big bad Johnny is gonna be mean to you? It's not that hard, here I'll start. You have a kid in high school right? How old are they? Boy or girl? You got anymore?”

“Kids? We’re gonna talk about our kids?” Daniel blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair “ok fine, that’s fine. Yeah Sam, Samantha is in high school. She’s 16. A junior this year. I have a son too. Anthony, you met him at the park.”

“Kid brained me with a frisbee, wouldn't exactly say i met him.”

Daniel softened a bit, tension leaving his shoulders. 

“Actually I think I'm the one who hit you, he just didn't catch it. He’s not really the athletic type. Doesn't want to be. Not like Sam is. What about you? I mean I saw your boys at the school” Daniel trailed off. 

“Mmm yeah Robbie and Miguel. Both 16. Both Juniors. Out with their friends tonight at some movie thing think.” Johnny did nothing to correct the assumption that Miguel was his. He had gotten used to it over the years and it really didn't even register anymore. It wasn't the first time people had assumed Robby and Miguel were brothers and it wouldn't be the last.

“That's what they told you anyways right”

“Well it's not like they would lie to me. I got way too many ways to keep an eye on them.”

“Mmm track my Iphone.” said sagely.

“Do what now? Miguel hasn't told me about that.” 

Daniel laughed at that. His eyes crinkled softly, the new wrinkles around them were more pronounced and Johnny couldn't help but stare at him. Even with crows feet and gray hair at his temples he had to admit to himself that Daniel was still beautiful. He knew he had aged well. The amount of water Carmen had forced on him had helped keep his skin clear and supple and his blonde hair hid any gray well enough that he didn't notice if there was any. His mom had kept her long blonde hair right until the end so maybe he would too. 

From there conversation flowed easier. Johnny didn't know why, but he actively avoided mentioning his dojo or anything about Karate, and he noticed Daniel didn't either. There were still awkward pauses and pointed glances whenever something a little too close to taboo came up. When Johnny had mentioned going to Bobby's family reunion with Carmen and the boys, Daniel had clammed up excusing himself to the bathroom. Johnny tried not to squirm when he mentioned his wife, who was apparently named Amanda, who was brilliant and perfect, and the dealership. If he felt a little guilty for moving the conversation past that he ignored it. He was doing nothing wrong. And neither was Daniel, really. They were just two guys catching up, telling stories about their kids and stupid customers. 

It wasn't until Daniel mentioned Mr. Miyagi passing away that things went sideways. 

“It was a few years ago now. Sam was 8 I think? Maybe 7.” he fiddled with the olives in his third martini. 

“Shit man I'm sorry to hear that. He was a good man. And lived a long life it sounds like.”

“Yeah, yeah he did. He uh, he left me everything. He didn't have any children, so he left me. . . everything.” Daniel said. His eyes locked onto Johnny’s. 

Johnny knew it was dangerous territory but he couldn't help asking anyways. 

“So you have the old place?”

“Yeah,” Daniel breathed out, still staring at him, “yeah I do. The house, and the cars.”

Neither of them spoke, just stared at each other. Around them the sound of the bar seemed muted. He could feel the condensation gather on his hands from the glass of beer he was clutching. 

“Your bike is still there.” Daniel said, too loudly, too _forceful_ , never dropping his eyes from Johnny. 

He cleared his suddenly dry throat.

“Oh” 

Johnny couldn't think of anything else to say. He was still looking into Daniel’s eyes. He knew Daniel was thinking of all the time they had spent at the old place. Johnny had learned a whole new way to fight in that backyard during the day and had spent nights laying on the same mats just watching the few stars he could see in the middle of LA county. 

“I never moved it, you know.” 

Johnny sucked in a deep breath. 

“Don’t-” he tried to warn, but Daniel spoke over him.

“I came home and saw it there and was so excited you were home because you hadn't been answering my phone calls in over a week and I couldn't wait to talk to you, but you weren't there.” he said

Johnny sat back, letting go of his glass, running wet hands through his hair. 

“I mean it, LaRusso stop”

“So I waited, thought you maybe left for a run. Or you were with the weird neighbors you liked. Or maybe your mom called and wanted to see you. So I waited there for hours.”

“Enough!” Johnny hissed, pushing back from the table. 

“And then I fell asleep and then it was morning and you still weren't back so I got worried.” Daniel soldiered on, voice still too loud to Johnny’s ears. Johnny wasn't sure if there was an edge of hysteria to it or if he was projecting his own. 

“Son of a bitch I said I wasn't doing this.” Johnny croaked desperately. He felt frozen to his seat, fingers digging into the sticky wood of his seat.

“So I went outside to see Mr. Miyagi and found him talking to the weird neighbors who said you left two days before and asked them to please come over and water the bonsai’s because you weren't coming back!” he was fully shouting now but Daniel didn't seem to care or even notice the looks they were getting. 

His eyes were burning with barely restrained fury and pain and that wasn't fair because Johnny had been right to leave. There was no way he could have stayed there and looked at Daniel without wanting to beat him bloody. 

And it had taken Johnny months to curb the instincts Kreese had drilled into him.

So many months of sitting in Mr. Miyagi’s backyard scattered with bonsai trees and learning how to breath through the rage. 

Johnny unclenched his hands from the chair and stood up to walk away, but Daniel followed him. He saw him throw some bills on the table before he caught up as the two of them reached the door. 

“I get you have a fucking happy life John, but we were supposed to do it all together.” Daniel said leaning his body close into him, digging his forehead into his shoulder. 

Johnny could feel the burn of his touch through the tight shirt he wore. His jacket was clutched in his hand so tightly his knuckles were white. He closed his eyes and tried to breath through the ache the old way he learned how. The words brought tears to his eyes he hadn't cried in decades. 

“We had a whole plan, Johnny, and you left me and I don't know why.”

He could tell from the timbre of his voice that Daniel was close to tears as well. Again, the thought of what they must look like crossed his mind. Two middle aged men with tears in their eyes in the middle of Sal’s bar on a Friday night. Just the thought of what these people thought of their display was enough to have him push Daniel back from him. He could see the hurt in his eyes when he looked back. 

Daniel looked small and helpless now instead of angry. 

Johnny pushed through the door and walked outside, thankful to be out of the oppressive heat from too many bodies inside. Walking over to his bike he heard the sound crest and fall behind him, the door opening and closing to let Daniel follow him out. 

“I asked you not to do this, and you agreed! You agreed and it was the only reason I came here tonight. All of that shit is over LaRusso. It's been over for years! Like I said, I moved on with my life! Why can't you!?” 

Daniel looked pained in front of him, his face contorted and for a brief second Johnny was sure he was going to start crying. He could feel an ache begin to build in his chest, lodged right between his ribcage. It was a dull, throbbing, weighted down thing he had not felt since his mom died. He had felt it all those years ago when he left Mr. Miyagi’s place for the last time and thought it was regret. But he was older now with more life experience than he ever wanted, and he knew exactly what it was. 

Looking at Daniel’s face crumpled up with pain, Johnny felt grief. 

It had been so hard to walk away from Daniel, and he had done so much grieving over the end of all the plans they had made while watching the stars, but Johnny had done it. He had made a choice and lived with it. But seeing him now in front of him all grown up, happy, and with a family that didn't include Johnny the easy, childish, way they promised each other it would and it all came back. 

Johnny felt the ache, all that grief for a life lost all over again. 

“You left me first LaRusso”

“What? I would never, I didn't leave you! was that it? You were mad I went to Japan with Mr. Miyagi so you left? I was always going to come back! ” 

“Jesus, of course not! Even as petty as I was at 18 I understood why you went. The timing sucked yeah but gimme some credit.”

“I just, I-I fuck, Johnny I love you.”

Johnny’s face whipped to the side and his eyes clenched shut as if he had been slapped.

“Don't Daniel. Don't say you loved me.” he gritted out. His voice felt raw and heavy with suppressed tears. 

“I’m not Johnny. I'm saying I love you. I still love you. I never stopped loving you.” Daniel said desperately, still hunched in on himself. 

“You don’t. You're married. With two great kids. And a great career. You don't love me” 

“I do! I did the best I could but don’t think there's a day that went by that I didn't think of you and wish you were the one there beside me. Amanda is amazing, she is, but she’s not you John.” he took a tentative step towards Johnny but Johnny stepped back, almost knocking his bike over. 

A new voice from the side started them both.

“John?” 

Johnny looked past Daniel to see Carmen standing there, eyes wide and darting between him and Daniel. He had no idea how long she had been there. Behind her he could see Steve standing on the other side of his car looking confused. They must have been on their way back to the apartment. 

“Is everything ok?” she asked tentatively. The way she looked at Johnny, he knew she already knew the answer to that. 

“Uh yeah. Fuck, yeah, sorry, everything is fine. Sorry. I’ll just, I-I'll just go.” Daniel said looking over at Johnny. He looked so dejected and broken it made Johnny want to weep. 

As he watched Daniel walk away Carmen moved over to him slowly. He could feel her eyes sweeping over his face, cataloguing his every emotion. He never could hide from her. She wrapped her arms around him and held him, running her hands over his back soothingly. He saw Daniel shoot one last look at him but looked away, burying his face in Carmen’s hair, letting it hide the tears on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's also a TON of background LawRusso information here! I know it's mostly alluded to, but more than enough to give you a really good idea of the relationship between the two. there will be more background on it, but first i think the baby Cobras and Good Dad! Johnny need to make an appearance so keep an eye out for them in the next couple of chapters
> 
> i really enjoyed writing Carmen in this one. i like to think that spending all that time with Johnny and Shannon helped shaped her too. In making her 39, she's 23 when she meets 35 year old hot mess Johnny. i love having them have a tactile friendship that maybe Johnny was kinda confused about at first but i mean Hispanics love to hug and touch their family and to Carmen and Yaya Johnny has been family since the beginning. so Johnny sees her as a sister/mothering figure so he lets her and has learned to reciprocate.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get ready to see the Baby Cobra's! some of these kiddo's are pretty OOC I think. but just like Johnny, I think having these people around each other much earlier than in canon would definitely change things, so I hope its not too off putting. I did add a couple OC's just to round them out.

Then

Johnny stood frozen in his driveway. Sid and his mom had been gone for the weekend on some business trip and weren't supposed to be back until Monday. But there was the car covered in early morning dew. It had been there at least most of the night probably. He should have listened to Daniel when he said he thought he heard someone the night before when he had gotten up to go to the bathroom, but Johnny had dismissed it pulling the brunette back into bed with him. They hadn't been quiet. He heard the door open behind him and turned to look in tandem with the boy next to him. “Johnny, my littlest love, can you bring some milk back after you drop Daniel back off home. I'll need some for my tea and Sid’s driver won't be able to have him home before dinner.” his mother smiled beatifically at him. He felt something loosen in his chest. 

“Sure Mama, I'll be back in 30” he smiled back at her. “Take your time, I was young once to you know” she winked and walked back into the house. Johnny laughed at how red Daniel’s face was. His mother was an angel, and Johnny would be just fine. He nudged Daniel’s shoulder with his own and shared a smile with him. They would both be just fine. 

Now

“I don’t know what his deal is. He’s been so weird since Saturday when we got home. Spacey almost”

Miguel shifted his stance slightly. He had grown up with the moves. The kata’s came easy to both him and Robby, so he should have known he was going to get caught out. Robby saw it immediately. 

“You know something.” he said, straightening up out of his pose. 

“I don't!” Miguel replied, wincing when it came out too quickly. 

“Oh my god, are you- are you lying to me?!”

Miguel could see the others around them eyeing them curiously. Growing up as close as they did, Miguel and Robby never really fought.

“Would you keep your voice down!” Miguel hissed back “No, I'm not lying to you, honestly I don't KNOW anything, just you know, I heard mom and yaya talking when I got home Saturday morning.” 

“Ok, and? What is it man, spit it out.”

Miguel threw a look towards the office where his Sensei and godfather was. 

“Mi mamá estaba diciendo que el tío tenía una cita de la que no quería contarle. Pero que vio el final de ésta y no parecía que fue demasiado bien. Ella, uh, ella dijo que él estaba llorando.”  
(My mom was saying that he had a date he didn't want to tell her about. But she saw the end of it and it didn't look like it went well. She, uh, she said that he was crying.) 

__“Oh my god Miguel, that’s knowing something!”_ _

__“What! No it’s not! That's eavesdropping!”_ _

__“Whatever. ¿Sabes quién era?”  
(Do you know who it was?) __

_____ _

____

____

__

____“No, they saw me and stopped talking.”_ _ _ _

____“ni siquiera sabía que estaba saliendo con alguien”  
(I didn't even know he was seeing anyone) ____

____  
_ _ _ _

____

____

______Miguel shifted again. He groaned internally, it was like he didn't learn!_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Spit it out Mi.” Robby narrowed his eyes._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Creo que no lo hacía, él ha estado saliendo mucho con uh, diferentes personas”  
(I don't think he was, he's been going out a lot with, uh different people) ______

____  
_ _ _ _

____

____

________“Dude, we need to work on your communication skills, what the fuck!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Quiet!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Both Robby and Miguel jumped when they heard their sensei yell out. Turning to face him Miguel swallowed. He really hoped his uncle didn't hear any of their conversation._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Since you two decided you didn't need to complete your kata’s why don't you go bring out all the dummies and help set up. Move!_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________\---_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Johnny watched his boys grumble, but head to the back without complaint. He had a headache that hasn't really gone away since Friday night when Carmen brought him home and he was not in the mood to deal with anyone’s shit. Not even from the boys._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He ran through drills and some sparring matches while Robby and Miguel lugged in 10 sparring dummies. Normally all the baby cobras would pitch in two by two to bring them in since they were heavy and hard to carry. He felt bad making them do it on their own but they all knew that there were no favorites in his dojo. No one got special treatment, not even his son and godson._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Once they were set up he had the group pair up and moved onto the dummies._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s leg day cobras, let's see some knees and high kicks. Robby, Miguel. My office.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Turning back to the office he wove through the bodies moving seamlessly. Looking at the movements of each of his kids Johnny felt a warmth in his chest. His kids were each amazing martial artists. They wouldn't have any issues in competition._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________By the time he got to his office the boys had already caught up with him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Shut the door.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Once the door was shut behind them he just looked at his two boys. They were both perfect as far as he was concerned. He knew he could only set 4 of them to compete and he had about 8 kids between 16 and 18 out of the 20 kids in his large class. He didn't want anyone younger to compete. He knew they could but that wasn't the point. His dojo, his rules._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Have either of you heard of the All Valley Tournament?” he asked them. When they both shook their head no he sighed. He really hoped they wouldn’t get upset with him for keeping it for so long._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“It’s a Karate tournament. Ages 12 through 18. Dojo’s from all across the valley compete for a championship. 4 students per dojo move across the brackets as they win. It’s not easy, but there are rules and safeguards in place so that it's not dangerous. You fight in an auditorium, in front of a very large crowd. Three rounds each, and you fight for points, until someone taps out, or until the ref calls it. There’s a trophy for first and second place. I think maybe a ribbon for third and fourth I'm not sure on that one. What do you boys think of competing?” he asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________For a few seconds they just stared, until Johnny wanted to push them for an answer. But he waited to see what their reaction would be without prompting. He watched as both of them looked at each other. They did that sometimes. Johnny was sure they spoke telepathically sometimes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Or maybe just with their eyebrows. Shannon and Carmen both had very expressive eyebrows._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Just when he thought he needed to say something else, both boys turned to look at him in unison._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Creepy little shits._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“All 10 of us are 12 and over.” Robby said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“I don't want the younger kids competing anyways. I was just going to have the 16 and over crowd go for it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“That still leaves 8 people.” Miguel piped up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yes, we would have to decide between the 8 of you which four would compete. It is not perfect but it is what it is if you wanted to enter.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“How would you decide?” Robby asked_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Well first we would check to see if everyone even wanted to enter. I can't imagine Dmitri would want to.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“True, but even without him how would you decide between the other seven?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Johnny grinned. Ever since his disastrous night with Daniel 5 days before he had been in a funk. Carmen, surprisingly, hadn't pushed him for answers since she tucked him into bed that night but he knew his reprieve was going to be cut short with the new weekend coming up. He had been entertaining the thought of entering the competition ever since the park over the summer and he figured a good distraction would be helpful for everyone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Well boys I was thinking of an in-house competition. I get you guys ready here and then we get uncle Bobby and uncle Tommy to come over and referee for you. It would be a real fight, not just sparring with each other. You would be fighting to win. Win with honor, but fight to win.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Johnny watched as their eyes lit up in anticipation of the challenge ahead of them. It wouldn't be the first time he had gotten some of the old gang together for Cobra Do. When the original baby cobras were all younger, the main crew of 6 would put on a show. Tory’s sister had been in dance and when Tory had cried about not having a Christmas recital one day Johnny had been too weak to resist. Crying girls with pretty blue eyes would never not be able to wrap him around their finger. These days the Christmas show was still only for the younger kids so maybe starting an in house competition around the same time for the older kids wasn't a terrible idea._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Johnny needed the distraction anyways. Getting two shows ready and making sure the both groups were ready would be tiring, but worth it to keep his mind in the here and now instead of wallowing in the past the way he had been the entire week._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What about Bert? He’s only 14, What are you going to tell him about him not being able to even try to compete?” Robby asked_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Miguel piped in before Johnny even had a chance to respond._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“He can still compete here with us, right Tio? We can do twelve to fifteen, then a sixteen to eighteen category.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah that sounds like a good compromise. Either way we look at it we have too many kids to let everyone enter. This way if you guys like it, next year can be Bert’s shot. But I just don't want to see or anyone his size be taken advantage of. Been there, seen that, didn't like the damn T-shirt.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He watched Robby and Miguel contemplate his plans. He hadn't planned on including them so completely but he knew that they had noticed he had been off since the weekend, he was pretty sure whatever small argument they were having before he walked out onto the main floor was about him, and he hoped by giving them a little more responsibility in Cobra Do he’d be able to keep them at bay._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“With the Christmas show coming up I'll need your guys' help with the young ones. I’ll have a lot to do to get you guys prepared and us signed up for the tournament. We’ve never been registered and apparently that’s a hassle on its own. You two down to pick up extra hours?”  
“Yes, Sensei” they replied in unison. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Ok then, you two have drills to catch up on. Get moving.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________They boys got up and bowed to Johnny before going back onto the main floor to go through their sets. They knew they had to do them all even if they fell behind everyone else._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He could see the entire class through the large window in his office. the giant one way mirror window was one of his favorite things about the new office space. Being able to see all his kids at all times but not have to smell them. When the baby cobras had hit puberty they hit it hard. Johnny had hit them back just as hard when he threw each of them deodorant and told them no one would be allowed entry to their next class unless they were wearing it. It had gotten better. sort of._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He watched as the boys moved into their sets in order to catch up with the rest of the students. The scene was not new, but it never failed to amaze him what he had accomplished in the past 10 years with these kids._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Each of them had come to mean so much to him, both individually and as a group. Tori was his first little girl, and he loved her as if she was his own flesh and blood. She had been one of the first to sign up when he had opened. Johnny had never imagined teaching a girl but he had watched her look around in amazement, and the way Tori’s eyes lit up watching Miguel and Robby there was no way he would have been able to say no. He had been hooked on those pretty blue eyes she had gotten from her daddy. They looked so much like his mom's eyes it made his chest hurt sometimes even now ten years later._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Demetri and Eli were his beginners too. The two had come in so scrawny he had been afraid to set them against anyone but each other. Demetri had been a chatterbox where Eli had been almost mute. Eli had been painfully shy at 5 years old. Johnny had tried his best to bring him out of his shell and it took a long time, but the first time Eli had let go of his mom's hand to run back and give Johnny a hug it had all been worth it. Demetri still talked too much but he had come a long way from jumping at his own shadow. He hadn't stopped being smug at taking Johnny down for over a week afterwards. It hadn't happened since but Johnny remembered the pride and shock on his face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________He had the five of them for a few months before Aisha had wandered in. Tori’s dad had done some work for her dad and the girls met and became best friends which had resulted in her dad coming down to enroll Aisha. She had been bright and enthusiastic and fit in with all the others seamlessly. She has been a natural from the beginning, running through kata’s like she had been born to it the way Robby and Miguel had been. For as busy as her dad had been in the early years he had never missed a moving up ceremony or any special outings they did. He had been proof to Johnny in those early years that showing up was half the battle when it came to parenting._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Sensei."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The voice from the doorway pulled him out of his thoughts._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Dem." he acknowledged._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Sensei, would you like us to continue drills and wait for Miguel and Robby to catch up?" Demetri asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Na leave them to themselves. I need you to grab Eli, Tori, Aisha, Brandon, and Abby. Let them know I need them to stay after class. Then line everyone up. I'll be right out."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Demetri gave him a questioning look and Johnny knew he wanted to know more, but the days of him saying everything that came to his mind was long gone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Yes Sensei." He said after a brief pause and, with a bow walked back into the main room._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Johnny watched him go, first to Eli of course, then to the others. The six baby cobras, minus the boys, all looked back over towards where he stood behind the one way glass._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Johnny hoped he was doing the right thing. Competition was such a sore spot for him. Learning under Mr. Miyagi had taught him a lot of things he tried to show his own kids without losing what Cobra Kai taught him as well. One of the main things he hadn't thought about until opening Cobra Do was that karate wasn't about Competition. It was about you and your own self accomplishment. But competition and winning was such a Cobra Kai standard it was difficult to let it go._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________It wasn't until he watched two five year old's wrestle on the floor of his empty dojo, laughing and covered in paint, that he realized he didn't even want to think about having to tell either of them that they had lost at something they worked so hard on. It was why even today if he were to pull up the mats in the main room, he would find white paint marks and tiny footprints. Everything his baby cobras did always filled him with so much pride._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________On top of any other neuroses he may have had about winning and losing and competing, he'd be lying to no one more than himself if he didn't say that making sure not to run face first into Daniel hadn't been another large part as to why he had stayed away from the All-Valley. But that ship has sailed. And had crashed and was sitting at the bottom of Long Beach harbor. If Johnny was going to stick to his guns that he had moved on with his life he was going to have to stop running from his past. Including the 18 and under All-Valley Karate Tournament._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________With that he stepped out of the office and called his class to order._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Alright freaks and geeks, at attention!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not terribly happy with how this chapter turned out, its really more of a filler focusing on the kids and the dojo and Johnny's relationship with them. I hope everyone enjoyed the dynamic with Miguel and Robby, that was definitely my favorite part of this! let me know what you thought! everyone's comments have been amazing! 
> 
> next chapter! Johnny's gonna have to fess up to some things because there is no way the women in his life aren't conspiring against him!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much to everyone who is still reading and enjoying this! this is the longest thing ive ever written and i'm constantly amazed at the positive response to it! thank you!  
> and again a huge shout out to Breyito for the help with the spanish translations!

Then

Standing on the doorstep Johnny wasn't too sure this was the greatest idea he had ever had. He and Daniel had been getting. . . .closer lately but he knew that his Ma was a big deal to him and if he wanted to stick around he had to at least get her to see him as more than the boy who picked on her son for months on end. So he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He bit his lip waiting for the door to open. He had a pretty decent speech planned out. He thought anyways. It was as sincere as the one he had used on Daniel a few weeks ago and that one had gone much better than he imagined. Johnny looked around the shabby complex and remembered growing up in one similar before his mama had gone selling herself to Sid for Johnny’s sake. He couldn't see the woman from Daniel’s stories ever doing something like that. His mama had given up so much for him and dealt with so much every day still for him. He could feel the hot bruise on his jaw from where Sid had decked him the night before when he stopped him from going after his mama. It felt like it was burning on his face under the concealer he had applied that morning. He wished his mom was more like this woman who he had never met but who he knew from the stories Daniel told him was made of steel. Tears of frustration pricked at his eyes just as he heard the lock turn on the door. 

“Hi Mrs. L, uh Daniel said you were helping a friend move today, but he was busy with Mr. Miyagi? Well um, I'm free today if you still wanted the help?" He could see the confusion and suspicion in her eyes but there was surprise, and maybe a little gratefulness too. He could work with that. 

Now. 

Johnny rubbed a hand over his eyes as he listened to the kids around him go back and forth. The fallout hadn't even been bad really. He had expected hurt feelings and dramatic rantings about being held back or being stifled in the tiny dojo. 

He swore he could almost hear Carmen’s voice in the back of his head telling him that those kinds of dramatics were all his. 

“Enough!” he barked, silencing all eight of them. 

Each of the kids snapped to attention and faced him, wrists held behind their backs. 

“The Tournament is mid December. That gives you all about 11 weeks to train harder than you’ve ever trained before in order to be ready for our qualifying round here. That will be held the same weekend as the babies Christmas show.”

“You do know your junior class hates when you call them that right?” Demetri interrupted.

“Shut up Dem, I'm sure you're about to hate that anyone who wants to compete has to put in extra hours helping the babies prepare, on top of keeping up with our own training.” Johnny threw back. 

He hadn't planned on making them help but he figured if they were going to snark he could make it worth his while to deal with them. Johnny smirked as he saw everyone shoot a look at Demetri, who threw his hands up in exasperation. 

“Look it doesn't matter. If everyone wants to enter Cobra Do into the tournament you all need to be ready, but I wont have some stupid competition ruin all of the years of hard work each of you has already put in here. We take care of the home front first. We are a family to Cobra Do before anything else."

“Yes, Sensei.” his baby cobras replied in unison. 

“Sensei?” Tori asked

“Yes, Tori?”

“How come you didn't bring up the tournament when we turned 12?”

“You were too small for that shit, look at Bert. He may be 13 but the kid is built like a twig. I remember what Eli looked like at 12, no way in hell he was getting in the ring with anyone.”

“You didn’t think I could win?” Eli asked

Johnny scoffed

“Now? Absolutely I do. Hell even 4 years ago you might have been able to win. But not without injury.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute” Demetri asked, flailing for attention “what do you mean injury? I thought you said there were ref’s and judge's in this thing?”

Johnny sighed again and asked everyone to sit down. He went back into his office and grabbed the box he had stashed in there earlier and a chair. He might be in great shape, but he was too old to be sitting on a floor.

“Listen to me. Yes, there are ref’s who watch the fight, who call fouls, or timeouts, who make judgement calls based on the performance and staying power of each fighter. But they are no help once a blow has already been dealt. If you're hurt in one round, moving into the next is tough as shit. And don’t forget; Whoever makes it to the last round fights almost back to back. The tournament is for children but it is not kid shit. It's still the real deal.”

Johnny leaned forward and looked each of his kids in the eye. He loved each of them and the thought of seeing them bloody, or limping, in tears, and out of breath on the floor was hard for him. He taught the baby cobras for over 10 years now. They knew everything he knew when it came to their sport. Except for how to bleed. A bloody nose, or bloody knuckles were inevitable in their daily activities, but blood was never drawn on purpose. 

He could still remember staying after hours with Kreese, the chanting in his ear, wooden boards stained brown with the blood of his enemies. With his blood.

Malice had no place in Cobra Do though. 

“Make no mistake, a sparring match is not the same as a fight with someone who is hell bent on making sure you go down and stay down.”

Johnny pulled his trophies out of the box and set all three of them down in front of him so the kids could read them. 

“Let me tell you guys a story about a bully, a karate kid, an illegal kick, and a knee that never healed quite right.”

\---

“Whatever reason you keep hiding from Carmen, you might want to give up on it. She just told Mi he could drive her car back home. She’s got you for at least an hour on the ride back.” Bobby spoke up behind him, breaking Johnny from his thoughts. 

He cursed the stubborn woman under his breath, but took the beer Bobby was offering him with a small smile. 

“Knew I wasn't going to be able to get away with it for long anyways. My Vieja waited longer than I thought she would.” Johnny laughed lowly. He took a swig of his beer and watched as Carmen helped Bobby’s wife clean up the yard. He had been hoping coming to Bobby’s BBQ would have been enough of a distraction to keep her at bay for a little longer but it looked like his time had run out. 

“One day she’s gonna hear you call her that, and when she slaps you I'm just gonna sit back and laugh my ass off ya know.”

“Yeah, yeah I know.”

“What's the deal anyways? She not on board with the tournament? It can't be as bad as when we were kids”

“Na, everyone’s good with it, took it all a lot better than i thought they might actually.” Johnny sighed.

He had been a mess of nerves since the weekend. The weight he had been carrying in his gut had lightened considerably after he spoke with the baby cobras. Everyone had been curious if not completely excited for a chance at competing. 

“I'm still not sure why you thought it would be an issue.” Bobby said. He had been more than enthusiastic to play referee for them. He had already bought himself a handbook on all the rules and regulations, the nerd. 

Johnny would probably end up stealing it. He would definitely need one because he wasn't sure who would be at the tournament, and the last thing he needed was someone trying to call a foul just because he had been the one to teach the kids what they knew. Which really, was just one more source of anxiety for him. It was probably unfounded; the idea that anyone from thirty plus years ago still being around was admittedly slim but he couldn't help himself. 

He had not checked to see if Daniel was in any way involved. 

“I told them everything. About Cobra Kai, and Kreese, and the knee thing. I told them I was the bully I was always telling them not to be. I never wanted them to see me that way. Some sad broken mess, laid out in some parking lot floor.”

“You haven't been that boy for a long time Johnny, and they know that. Those kids love you as much as you love them you know. You made sure of that. Hell I heard you had some rager for them before school started. Can you imagine Kreese partying it up with us out on the beach?” 

They both laughed at the image. For all they had been known as some bad boys back in school they really had not done much hard core partying. There was too much pressure with Kreese to ever really overindulge in drinking and there was definitely no drugs involved. Not for them anyways. Dutch had always been a wild card. But they had practically lived on the beach when they weren't at school or in the dojo. The thought of Kreese doing anything with them just for fun was outrageous. 

“It was a fucking pool party, they were basically in the front yard the whole time.” Johnny told him, ignoring the smirk he got back. 

“My point is, you're there for them and they know that. That’s what they need to know about you. We were bullies at school, sure. Stupid kid shit. But we grew out of that, and became better for it. Some of us sooner than others.” Johnny knew the look on Bobby’s face well. They had gone over the regrets Bobby had plenty of times. 

“You know I don't blame you for anything from back then either, right? Like you said stupid kid shit.” Johnny told him.

“Yeah, man I know. Still though. Proves my point. You don't see me for my mistakes, even though they were much bigger than yours, and they don't either. You raised them better than that. Shit look at you man, freaking out about one kid and now you have like 30 of them!” Bobby threw his head back and laughed. He may have gotten older and rounded out, but Bobby always looked just as good as his teen self whenever he laughed like that. Completely care free. 

“Andele, de qué nos reímos?” Carmen asked as she walked up to them with Judy in tow.   
(hey, what are we laughing about?)

“Nada, metiche.”  
(nothing, nosey)

“That means gossip right?” Judy asked. 

“Pretty much, but really it just means Johnny is being rude.” Carmen laughed, rolling her eyes at him “are you ready to go? The boys already left, so it's just me and you.”

It was Johnny’s turn to roll his eyes. She wasn't fooling him. 

They finished with the clean up and said their goodbye’s, walking arm and arm to the car.

"Johnny-" Carmen started, but he cut her off before she could say more. 

"Come on Princessa, let's get to the car before you drill me yeah?" 

She huffed and Johnny could feel her breath against his neck as she leaned heavily against him. 

"I'm not drilling you, but you know you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you , just the conversation.” Johnny told her softly.

“I just want to know what that man did to you that had you so upset." 

"Not now ok? Let's just wait until we can get to the car at least."

“I’m trying to help Johnny.” she pulled away from him and glared. 

Johnny sighed. “It's really not even a big deal”

“Yes, it is! You're my family. And I’m not going to let some hot shot car salesman upset you the way that man did. It looked like a pretty intense conversation, and I'm not sure I've ever seen you that upset.”

Johnny had not expected to be ambushed by her before getting in the car. He thought he'd have a little more time to deal with figuring out what to tell her. In normal circumstances he absolutely would have gone and bitched to her or Bobby about some bullshit date he had. Not that it was a date, but he did not want to talk about Daniel. Especially not with Bobby. It had been such a hot issue when Bobby had cut him off along with the rest of the Cobras, then a non issue when he and Jimmy had tracked Johnny down later to reconnect. They hadn't asked and he hadn't told. They had been supportive later when he had brought a date around that happened to be a boy and that had been enough to let water under the bridge. Talking about the boy that had been the reason they stopped talking in the first place was unnecessary. 

Of course that would be the moment Bobby popped up out of nowhere, Carmen’s purse in his hand.

“Wait, did you see Daniel LaRusso?” 

“Lo conoces? You know him?” Carmen asked. She let go of Johnny completely and turned sharp eyes to Bobby. 

Johnny couldn't answer either of them. It was absurd, even without Daniel there he still managed to somehow throw Johnny's life out of whack. He had always been able to do that. He heard Bobby answer Carmen’s question and closed his eyes because it only made it worse. 

“We uh, well we went to school with him. Um, Johnny. . . Knew him best though. I uh,, thought you said you told them all about the tournament John.” he said, shifting on his feet and rubbing the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.

“The Tournament? The ones you won in high school Johnny?”

Johnny rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands “No, LaRusso beat me once actually.”

Carmen only looked confused, while Bobby looked vaguely guilty again. He needed to have this conversation somewhere else. He hated Carmen a little bit watching Bobby bite his lip and squirm in discomfort. He always held so much guilt over the incident with Daniel. Both during the tournament and afterwards with Dutch. 

“Come on Carmen. Lets go. 

“No, just tell me what’s going on Johnny! You were crying! That's more than some school boy rivalry.”

Johnny felt his face flame and he fought to keep a lid on his temper, but seeing Carmen all full of righteous anger and Bobby looking at him with pity just pissed him off. 

“ No todo lo que hago es tu problema, ya sabes. No te metas donde no te llaman” he hissed at her. (not everything I do is your issue you know, mind your own business)

“Hey Johnny, come on man, i don't know what you said but it’s ok. We just want to talk.” Bobby tried to calm him down, ever the peacemaker. 

But it was too late for that. 

“Oh shut up Bobby, you don't want to talk about it! you didn't want to talk back then, you’d rather watch our friends kick my ass and get me kicked out onto the streets, and you sure as shit don't want to talk now, so just shut the fuck up man.” he knew he wasn't being fair in the slightest, but old habits sometimes died hard and Daniel was the oldest habit Johnny had. Every feeling he had bottled up since he had gotten on the plane to go home from Japan thirty three damned years ago was cropping up all at once. 

“Johnny!” Carmen yelled “that’s enough”

“oh now that's enough? I thought you wanted me to talk. I thought you wanted to know! I don't know what the hell you want me to tell you Carmen!” Johnny yelled “You want me to tell you that I fell in love with a boy when i was seventeen for the first time? That I lost fucking everything when the people I called friends saw me with him and then beat the shit out of me the next time they got me alone? How my fucking step dad kicked me out when one of those assholes went and told him how he tried to beat the faggot out of me for him? Or how my mom pretended to have no idea? huh? You wanna hear how I was stupid and naïve thinking that it was all fine because I was loved, and in love, and as long as we had each other it would all be ok? Or maybe you want to hear about how fucking wrong I was thinking that nothing could get between us, and how I had no clue what liars men can me until it was staring me in the face. Jesus H Christ if you want I can tell you all about everything. But I'm not doing this shit here.”

Johnny whirled around and stalked to the car. 

He knew he shouldn't have said any of that. Not to Bobby, and not to Carmen either. Not that way. They both deserved better from him than him acting like some heartbroken teenager. He hadn't had a temper problem in years, but there he was acting no better than the bully he swore he would never be again. 

Reaching the car, he thought better of driving. He didn't know what Carmen thought of the whole scene. She was far from the skittish girl she had once been, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to give her some control. Sighing, he got into the passenger seat and waited for Carmen to finish talking to Bobby. He didn't want to know what they were saying to each other because there was no chance it wasn't about him. 

He could feel shame coiling in his stomach. He had seen a therapist while in the Army after a fight with a squad member. The guy had been mostly a hack but he had helped Johnny see he did have anger issues. Just a small temper the quack had said, but it was enough to guilt Johnny into reading up on ways to curb it. He had used kata’s to ground himself every morning from then on. Mr. Miyagi had taught him so much but the association with Daniel had turned him off to it for years after the fact. Sitting in the car he let his breathing even out until it regulated. He felt his chest expand and contract in rhythm. He mentally ran through kata after kata in his head until he felt his blood begin to cool in his veins. His body felt heavy, weighted down by everything he had said. 

Ten minutes later she finally slid into the driver seat and started the car. 

"Bobby said not to bother apologizing to him because you and he have already fixed all that in the past and he knows you were just scared right now. Whenever you're ready, if you're ready, I'll be here to listen to anything you want to tell me. The little you told me breaks my heart mi amor. Just knowing that man hurt you makes me so angry for you. But I hope you know, Amor, that I'm on your side in everything. Always." 

“I don't deserve you, princessa hermosa. But I'm going to keep you anyway.” Johnny said with his eyes closed as he slipped his hand into hers and squeezed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mild warning for Johnny blowing up at Carmen in this chapter. he does worry that it may be a little triggering for her, but she's fine. He does snap at her in spanish, which when writing this worried me until i realized , it ALWAYS sounds worse in spanish!. i hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I absolutely love reading all your comments!


	7. Chapter 7

Then 

Johnny hadn't even wanted to go to prom. There was no point in it when he coulndt dance or kiss his boyfriend the way he wanted to. It had been a stroke of luck hearing about the club. It was a little underground and when Johnny had gone to check it out he had been gobsmacked. The music had been loud, the air had been hot, and it had been packed with men and women. But the men had been dancing and touching other men, and the women had been kissing and holding other women. Daniel had been a little reluctant at first, but he still agreed to go. 

So here they were, spending Prom night dancing at gay club. Johnny reveled in being able to hold Daniel in front of people. Daniel too barely took his mouth or hands off Johnny. He was sure he had bruises on his shoulders by now, if not from Daniel's mouth then from the suspenders he wore digging into them whenever Daniel yanked him in for another kiss. He wrapped his arms around Daniel’s waist hooking his thumbs into the big belt he wore over his acid wash jeans. His face was sweaty and he was sure the eyeliner his mama had helped put on him was probably ruined. Daniel’s hair had come loose from the do his ma had forced it into and his face was flushed. Johnny didn't want to be some teen cliche and lose his V card on prom night but looking at Daniel red faced and panting and he couldn't wait to head out. 

Now. 

Johnny knew he needed to figure out how to fix this thing with Carmen, he just didn't know how. Things had been strained since Bobby’s BBQ and between her working hard towards her promotion, and him working the kids harder than ever there had been little time to really sit down and talk. Not that he wanted to do even that. 

Something about telling someone about him and Daniel felt too personal, despite it being a thirty year old issue. Hell, he had never even properly talked to Daniel about it, which if Johnny was honest with himself was actually the entire present issue. What happened then, wasn't the problem, the problem was what was happening now.

Right? 

Jesus, he really was hopeless without Carmen. 

Johnny tried to think of when and how he could grab some time with Carmen soon, but all he could see was an endless sea of white Gi's spread out in front of him. Between getting things set for the Christmas show for the baby's, figuring out the actual training schedule for the 16 and up kids, and then having to fit in a new class for the 13 and 14 year old's, Johnny was wiped. And that was before he actually had to help Tori with coming up with the choreography, music, and other details for the show. 

sometimes he thought he took the whole Christmas thing a little too far, but the kids loved it, so what the hell.

He was lucky the baby cobras were more than ready to jump in and help. So far he had Eli with Tori, and Dem with Aisha for music and lighting. He still had to go down to the elementary school to put the deposit down, then take his application to the All-Valley committee and wait for their confirmation. 

God Johnny was tired just thinking about it. 

He pulled out his phone and shot off a text asking Carmen to find him some time coming up. He'd make a way to have it work whenever she wanted to. 

\---

Carmen had asked Johnny to meet her at the Cantina Sunday night. He didn't usually go out Sundays since he was normally either taking Robby back to Shannon's or picking him up depending on the week. But Johnny figured Robby was old enough to drive himself to his mom’s if he was old enough to chauffeur the baby cobras around.

"I feel like I'm dropping you off on a date" Robby laughed. He was leaning against the door with his backpack at his feet and a smile on his face. 

Johnny scowled and ran a brush through his blonde hair. He didn't hate the Cantina, and he didn't even mind the dancing anymore ever since Carmen taught him how, but god he hated the stupid button shirts she made him wear. It didn't matter that she wasn't there forcing him into them anymore, he knew better than to not wear the damn things. 

"Shut up, and go start the car." He told him.

"Yeah ok” he kept laughing “just saying I don't know why you guys couldn't just ride together. We're actual neighbors you know." Robby pointed out. 

"She has something going on with Miguel she said she had to take care of first." Johnny looked at his shoes and weighed whether or not he wanted to deal with the look he was going to get for wearing his Vans. The stupid dress shoes were the only things worse then the stupid button shirts. 

Fuck it, maroon Vans it was. If anything maybe he could get away with saying he wanted to match the color of his shirt. 

“Woah he took Tia to pick up his date?” 

“What?” Johnny asked barely even paying attention to what he was asking, let alone processing what Robby had just told him.

“His date? With that Sam girl? The one you told him to stop being a pansy ass and just ask out?” Robby crossed his arms looking at Johnny disapprovingly. 

“Sam? That's a girl? I thought Sam was a boy. God, I hope he didn't actually use any of my advice on a girl. That was bad girl advice.” Johnny laughed following Robby down the hall.

“It was bad advice in general dad. Asking out a boy isn't any different than asking out a girl you know.” 

“Aww come on, who doesn't want some hot guy constantly telling them how pretty they are? It's called seduction.” Johnny cried out. He heard Robby snicker ahead of him. 

“It’s called harassment actually.” Robby shot back over his shoulder “oh, hi Mrs. Morgan.”

“Hello, Robby dear how are you?” Mrs. Morgan asked. She had moved into the Heights a few years back after her husband died. 

“Oh, I'm good Mrs. Morgan, just heading out with my Dad.”

“Hey, Mrs. M, you're looking mighty fine this evening.” Johnny told her when he caught up to them. He flashed her a bright smile he knew always made her blush. Tonight was no exception he noticed. 

“Oh stop that, you incorrigible boy! Your seduction won’t work on me!” she swatted at his arm with her small bag. “Although i am glad i saw you, can you come make sure my heating unit is set for the winter? You know I never know how to get the temperature set on those things. My husband used to take care of that.”

She asked him to set the temperature in her apartment twice a year for the hot and cold months. Johnny always smiled when she did. It was such a small, inconsequential thing but he always felt like he was trespassing when he did it. Like her departed husband was watching him take care of his wife in a way no one but him ever did. He wondered what it was like to build a life with someone that way. 

Shannon was the longest relationship Johnny had ever had. They had both truly done their best to make things work between them for a long time after Robby was born but he never felt the kind of connection with her that would make all those small habits between two people automatic. He considered her feelings and opinions because he knew he should, not because it was a deeply ingrained habit. Shannon had been, and still was truth be told, a completely free spirit. She was wild and unpredictable in a way that had made him feel alive when they first got together. That same spirit had Johnny feeling untethered later on when he was trying to raise a son and be a better man. Shannon had always been the fun parent and he never begrudged her that, but in the end she wasn't the type of partner that worked for Johnny. 

They both found it worked better this way anyways. 

“Of course I can Mrs. M, do you need me to swing through right now or is tomorrow ok?” 

“Oh, no no, you boys head on out. I'm perfectly fine for tonight.” she smiled at them, waving at them as she headed to her apartment. 

\---  
Johnny let Robby drive since he was going to be taking the car anyways. They pulled up to the restaurant and dance lounge just before his eight oclock reservation. Carmen and him had been coming since they opened a few years back. At the time Johnny had not done much, if any formal dancing. Swaying with Ali at the country club didn't really count and neither did any club hopping he used to do. The first few times had been awkward and uncomfortable for him, but carmen had been as patient and sweet as ever with him. She taught him the basic moves and turns of most dances and by the time the Cantina had a bigger crowd Johnny could hold his own on the dance floor. He had improved greatly since then and they tried to go out every couple of months. Sometimes Shan would even come down with them if Carmen had a man she wanted to bring along. 

Robby pulled up right in front to let Johnny out, but rolled the window down behind him to yell out to him. 

“Alright young man, I expect you home by midnight! And no hanky panky! I'm too young to be an older brother!” 

Johnny flipped off the car as it pulled away, Robby’s carefree laugh almost drowned out by the music behind him. 

“Ese, nino” he heard behind him.  
(that boy!”)

Johnny turned, seeing Carmen smiling in a beautiful yellow sundress standing under the awning. 

“I blame you for that sass you know.” he told her as he walked up and wrapped her in a hug, dropping a kiss to her temple. 

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his, leading the way inside past the crowd of people milling around the outside bar. 

“Oh please, as if both of his parents aren't the same.”

Johnny chose to ignore her, instead giving his name to the hostess so they could be seated. The place was a bit more packed than he was expecting given that it was a Sunday night. He mentioned it to Carmen who just smiled and pointed to the sign behind him. He turned to look and let out a groan, but before he could say more, the hostess called their attention to lead them to their table. They followed her through the teeming array of tables, each one louder than the last until she sat them at a small table for two. 

“Before you say anything, I didn't realize they would have a live band, but I'm not really all that upset about it. I love Salsa, and you're the best partner I’ve found around here.”

“You taught me everything I know, of course I'm the best partner for you.” Johnny scoffed. 

“Yes, well, everything you know. Maybe I never taught you everything I know.” she told him primarily, but the smile on her face gave her away. He sighed knowing that after a few drinks he would be enjoying the dancing too. Band nights were only bad because it got so crowded. 

“You look nice.” he told her, trying to move the conversation along “is that another new dress?”

“It is!” she smiled at him “I'm surprised you noticed actually, but yes. Steve got it for me.”

Johnny hummed. 

“You and Steve seem to be getting pretty serious. Me vas a dar un hermano?”   
(you gonna give me a brother?”)

“Mmm, it is serious, and he really is a good man. But I’m not sure I'm looking for anything more just yet. No voy a mentirte, me asusta un poco. pero ya, lo suficiente sobre mí, nosotros sabemos que no es de lo que esta noche se trata.” she told him with a soft look that didn't fool him for a minute.   
(I'm not going to lie to you, it scares me a little. But enough about me, we both know that's not what tonight is about)

“No, I know. I just wanted to get some me and you time in. I know it’s been a little rough with me the last few months. And i mean sure, i may have a reason but that's no excuse to be a bitch or whatever. I, I uh” Johnny faltered slightly feeling his voice catch in his chest. “I’m sorry you know. You have been there for me through all of the hardest things in my life, but this one was so long ago, so long before i even met you and it feels so fucking stupid to let any of it get to me.” 

Carmen reached out a hand to him across the table, rubbing his clenched fist lightly. She smiled at him, encouraging him to continue. She cut him off before he could though. 

“Johnny, I've always told you, you don't owe me anything. I don't want you to feel like you need to tell me anything. I just want you to be happy and it hurt me to know you weren’t.”

“I have been happy. Robby made me the happiest man in the world really. Jesus you remember the mess I was back then.” he huffed. 

The waitress showed as a welcome interruption for him. They ordered their customary shots with some drinks to start with. Johnny wasn't hungry anyways.

“Yes, I do” Carmen said softly after she had left, picking right up where they left off “ Mmm, yes that man would not have talked this easily to me. He would have gotten angry and yelled or stormed off, don't you think Carino?”

Johnny glared half heartedly but gave it up as lost barely a beat later. 

“Yeah, he would have. I would have. I am sorry about that, you know.” he told her honestly. He turned his hand over and entwined their fingers. 

He loved being able to be affectionate with her without any expectation of something more. Something inside him always uncoiled whenever someone reached out to him first without him having to ask for the love. Sid, Kreese, and so many others had taught him that asking for validation was weak and unmanly. For so long his mom had been the only one to ever openly show him love and affection. The first time Robby had reached for Johnny, he had melted, and the fact that his boy still hugged him freely was better than anything else. 

“I don't want to talk about the past. At all. It’s done and over with, and I think that’s part of the problem with. . .with him. We were together. For a while. And then we weren’t. And i haven't seen him since then. Since I was eighteen. Before that actually. So 17, summer after graduation.” Johnny was fidgeting more and more as he spoke. It wasn't hot in the dining area despite how many people were crammed around the tables, but he felt overheated anyways. 

“Thing is, we never really talked about it. About any of it. So i guess he’s been, fuck I dont know, pining maybe? Wondering? I don't know what he wants from me. I don't want to give him an explanation that’s thirty years too late. And I don't want to bring it all back up again because it fucking happened in some of the shittiest times of my life and the last thing i want is to bring all that back up. I-I don’t know what to do other than to keep ignoring him. Fucking hope he gets over it and moves on with his pretty wife and his perfect kids and just leaves me the hell alone.”

“Johnny” Carmen said but he barely heard her. 

“He ruined so many things for me Princessa, I wish I could explain it all to you. It sounds so fucking stupid now. I know if Robby or Miguel came to me talking about some of the shit we talked about and planned for our lives I’d be the first to tell them to fuck off and grow up, but god if his stupid face didn't follow me around for years. I was an asshole before I met him and a drunk asshole after I left him.” Johnny continued. 

Carmen stayed quiet this time, letting Johnny continue. He could see the worry in her face but he couldn't stop now. He was giving her more than he had planned on. More than he had consciously thought about even, but it was like the flood gated had opened and he just couldn't hold it all back anymore. 

“It wasn't even that we were done ya know.” he told her “I easily could have changed all of the We plans into Me plans, but I just didn't even have it in me to care at that point. All I had on my mind was how i could drown out every single memory of him telling me how much he loved me because it was just a lie. Sid was a piece of shit but he never lied about hating me, or about wanting my mom as nothing more than some trophy he brought out to show off. Kreese was a fucking monster but even he made sure we knew he was only putting up with us for what we could do for him. But when he smiled at me he made me feel like I was everything to him. And by the end of it all he was everything for me. And I don't even know what he fucking got out of it because he couldn't wait to be rid of me once I had nothing left to give him. He walked away for me as soon as step daddy’s money ran out.”

Carmen’s hands tightened in his and he heard her gasp. 

“Yeah” he laughed harshly “pretty boy was nothing but a gold digging asshole. I don't even get it ya know. We never did anything over the top, it’s not like i ever spent that much money on him either. But fuck if he didn't literally take the first flight away from me as soon as he could. Walking around fucking Japan acting like a fuckboy.”

That startled a laugh out of her, and Johnny smiled. 

“Shut up, it's a word. Tori told me what I meant.”

The house band finally finished setting up and started playing the music for the night. The tables around them emptied as the dance floor exchanged their patrons, bright flowy dresses and fancy button shirts replaced jeans and T-shirts. Their reservations held the table for the night no matter how long they chose to be on their feet. 

Johnny looked around, not even noticing that the waitress had returned with their drinks and their shots. Johnny downed both tequila’s as Carmen took a sip from her Margarita. His michelada did not look appetizing, but it never really did to him. He liked it well enough though and always let Carmen order them for him. besides a beer was a beer so whatever.

“Finish that so we can go” she told him “you're a much better dancer when you’ve had a couple of drinks.”

Johnny laughed, grateful she was willing to accept what he said without much fanfare. Even if he knew he would be fielding “the look” for a few weeks after, it was worth not having to deal with “The Hum of Disappointment” every time she saw him 

“You just mean I'm more willing to feel you up while we dance once I'm buzzed. Admit it Princessa” he told her as he led her out onto the dance floor with the other couples “you love me getting my hands all over you.” 

He heard a gasp behind him at his words but ignored it in favor of pulling his partner close by her hips.

“Quien ríe el último, ríe mejor, Amor Mio” Carmen laughed at him while running her fingers through his perfectly combed hair, bringing their faces close, while their bodies began to sway to the music.  
(He who laughs last, laughs best, my love)

“Ríate todo lo que quieras, pero hay algo de verdad aquí Princesa.” he pulled her even tighter against him while they moved, moving one leg between hers and dipping her backwards.   
(laugh all you want, but I think there's some truth here princess.)

Carmen laughed again and when she came back up he spun her, wrapped his arms around her and dropped a kiss on her neck, both of them never losing their rhythm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Johnny actually believes all that doesn't he? poor kid.   
> he's finally opening up and I personally love that it's with Carmen! and she taught him to dance (and dance well according to the next chapter ;) yay!)  
> Daniel is going to be making a scene next chapter, because honestly when does that guy not show up only to cause some ish to go down.   
> thanks so much for reading! leave me a comment and let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more Carmen and Johnny! and Daniel! and even a little Amanda thrown in for fun.

Then.

Johnny was smiling as he packed the small duffel bag full of clothes. He grabbed a few pairs of pants, a few shirts, a hoodie, maybe he should think about taking an actual jacket. Daniel had said the rain was getting pretty bad the last time they had talked a few days before. The time difference between Japan and California had been hard to handle the first couple of days but they made it work. Johnny didn't even mind waking up at six if it meant Daniel was the first thing he got to hear in the morning. With a 17 hour time difference it meant Johnny was just getting ready for his day while Daniel was getting into bed but that was ok. It had been a few days since Daniel had woken Johnny up, but he was trying not to think too hard about that. He was busy and staying up till 11 just to call wasn't always going to happen. They had missed days before, just not so many in a row. Johnny was hoping Daniel would be as excited to see Johnny, as Johnny was to surprise him by coming out for a few days. He had wanted to stay with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi until they decided to come home, but he didn't want to be a burden on the old man and he was on limited funds even now that he finally had access to the account his mom had set up. He would be spending a week with Daniel until he finally came home and they could get things back to normal.

Now. 

Johnny never really grew an appreciation for spanish music. Not the stuff Carmen and Yaya listened to anyways. Sometimes Miguel and Robby had something playing that he enjoyed. Most days though Johnny would much rather listen to REO Speedwagon or Journey. 

It was part of the reason he didn't like band nights. The music was harder for Johnny to lose himself in, which led to him losing himself in Carmen. Or whoever he had in his arms, he thought remembering the one time Shannon had been there on band night. Robby and Johnny had not been able to look each other in the eye the next morning. Luckily he had been past the age of hoping his parents would get back together. Unluckily it led to the whole locked door and condoms, and Shannon laughing her ass off in Carmen's arms outside the room. 

Johnny idly wondered if he could get Carmen and Shannon to dance together. He’d pay good money to watch the two of them move together with some Bon Jovi playing in the background. He laughed softly to himself while he gripped Carmen's hip to move her on rhythm with him as he stepped side to side. Her hips swiveled in the cradle of his own before the both took a step back. Johnny kept one hand joined with hers only barely, fingertips touching as he raised it to his lips for a brief touch. His other hand palmed her hip in an even more possessive touch before he slid it up her side and around her back to pull her in by a firm touch to her shoulder. 

Carmen smiled at him, her unoccupied hand on his chest fingering the buttons of his shirt. Her pretty gold bracelet matched the brushed gold color of the buttons. Johnny watched her slide her hand up along the buttons to his neck, never breaking her step. They moved side to side and back forth in a perfect circle together with everyone around them. 

Her fingers reached his collar but she didn't stop there. She slid them along the hem, fingers barely brushing his skin before she pulled his head closer to hers, foreheads almost touching. He could feel her whole body move along his, they were pressed so tightly together. 

He placed the hand he had been holding down on his shoulder and wrapped both arms around her pressing even closer with his big hands on the small of her back. 

“De qué te ríes?” she said, her words ghosting over his lips.   
(what are you laughing at?)

Johnny bent his knees slightly, not losing the beat the guitarist and drummer laid out for them. He let one hand slide over her ass, knowing better than to cop a feel. She moved with him already knowing exactly what he wanted. Her leg hitched up, her calf wrapping around Johnny’s thigh. He grabbed at her, grabbing more skin than dress than he had been expecting. Raising an amused brow at her, Johnny let his fingers dig into her flesh. 

“Wondering if I could get you and Shan dirty dancing for me.” he smirked at her, letting her leg go and taking both of her hands in his. 

Carmen took a step back and they both laughed moving in step with one another. They had been dancing together for years. Ever since her and Shannon had decided that the way they were getting rid of their baby weight was to take dance classes, and he had been tricked into going with them. Carmen had not been impressed and decided she would be teaching them herself. 

“Johnny! Honestly.” she laughed moving in and out of the space between them, feet moving together and apart gracefully despite the tall heels she wore. 

“What?” he said faux defensively. He knew Carmen knew he was joking already but he went for it anyways. “Come on it would be hot. You're taller than her so you could lead. And do this bit” he said jerking her forward. 

She flowed into the move easily releasing one of his hands to clutch at his biceps while the other took a firm hold of his hair. Johnny leaned her backwards to the left, but kept a firm arm wrapped around her back, lowering himself over her. He nosed along her jawline towards her ear giving it a small nip, smiling when he heard her yelp. The hand in his hair tightened , while the one on his bicep moved under the short sleeve, nails digging into his skin.

Johnny kept moving their body’s. One of Carmen’s first lessons had been to never stop moving on the dance floor unless you were leaving. The slight sway and dip of his body moving in concert with the cadence of the singer's voice felt hypnotic with the tang of his partners’ perfume in his nose as he ran down her throat to her collar bone. 

He leaned further into her as he swung her around slowly, brushing his cheek against the mound of one breast, a smile still perfectly on his face when he laid a small kiss to her exposed sternum. Slowly Johnny continued to move with her to complete the arc he was making with her body. He brushed his lips up the opposite side of her, nosing into her neck before straightening up with his mouth next to her ear. 

“déselo así” he whispered in her ear, frowning when he felt her stiffen slightly before relaxing again and letting out a laugh.   
(give it to her like that)

Johnny pulls back to look at her face, but Carmen looks radiant. She always looks so happy no matter what goes on around her. Johnny stopped trying not to compare Carmen to his mama years before when he realized that even if their eyes were a different color, they had the same gleam to them and Johnny would always look in Carmen’s eyes and see his mother looking back. 

Carmen laughs again and pulls Johnny back into her, arms wrapping around his neck and pressing her temple to his. He rocks with her feet moving together and knees bumping thighs they are so tightly wound in each other. He ignores the sound of the singer behind him and sings his own song into Carmen's ear. 

“Whoa, We're halfway there,” he spins with her in his arms, eyes closed hoping not to run into anyone. 

“Whoa-oh Livin' on a prayer Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear” his hands are on her hips, fingers tapping along with the beat in his head.

“Whoa-oh” he whispers and opens his eyes. 

If Johnny had not been working mostly off sense memory his whole body would have stiffened. Suddenly he realizes when he spun he must have not made the full circle because he had the stage at his back now, and in front of him was none other than Daniel Larusso himself. 

Johnny wants to roll his eyes at the bullshit irony that has been his life since the summer heat was still as hot and humid as the dance floor currently felt. Because of course Daniel is here, eyes firmly planted on Johnny’s face even while he has his own arms wrapped around a tall chestnut haired bombshell that could only be his wife. 

Amanda Larusso is a knockout from behind if Johnny says so himself. 

And fuck if the look on Daniel’s face isn't eerily reminiscent of him at 17, staring in at Johnny and Ali swaying softly together in the clubhouse. 

Except it’s not, really. 

That Daniel had looked confused and a little bit angry. 

This Daniel, at over fifty, looks tired and world weary, and only just a little angry. 

His face has lines in it that Johnny is sure weren’t there three weeks ago. Lines around his mouth and eyes, making both look pinched and closed off. His arms are around his wife but he’s not holding onto her. He has his hands fisted so tightly closed, Johnny can see the white knuckles even through all the body’s between them. He’s staring fixedly over her shoulder, looking through the throng of spinning, kicking dancers directly at Johnny and Carmen. Or more accurately, at the spot where Johnny’s hands meet at the small of Carmen’s back fingers splayed wide over the upper most swell of her backside, keeping her hips pressed firmly into the cradle of his own while they move.

It feels like hours have gone by since Johnny noticed him, but really it’s been seconds. Daniel’s eyes haven't left Johnny’s hands on his partner's body and Johnny’s pretty sure he hasn't even realized that Johnny’s seen him. He should move them. Turn so his back is to the happily married couple but he cant get his feet to move to answer him. It’s blindly following the steps it knows Carmen is expecting. 

Johnny’s hands twitch, gathering the yellow fabric of Carmen’s sundress in his fingers under the intensity of the eyes on them, and finally Daniel blinks and tears his eyes away. 

One of Carmen’s hands fly down to pull her bunched up dress from his grip and Daniel’s eyes bore into his, at the same time. 

“Johnny’!” Carmen laughs, smoothing her skirt down and pulling back to look at his face. 

Johnny can barely hear her over the pounding in his ears though. Daniel is staring directly at him and he doesn’t look the least bit surprised to see him there. He briefly wonders if Carmen planned this and dismisses it just as quickly. She’s never been underhanded with him like that and he’s sure after everything he just told her she wouldn't have let him stick around like this had she known Daniel and his perfect wife were there as well. 

Johnny vaguely realizes Carmen has stopped moving, only really noticing when someone bumps into him, breaking the staring contest between him and his long lost ex. He stumbles slightly into Carmen making her sway before he catches her. Johnny turns to whoever knocked into him with a snarl. 

“Watch it asshole!”

“Johnny don’t” Carmen admonishes him when she gets her feet back under her.

“It’s fine, sorry about that” she tells the couple next to them, who are looking between Johnny and Carmen worriedly. 

Johnny ignores them, and ignores the eyes he can still feel boring into his profile. He lets Carmen grab him and lead him from the dance floor, not letting himself look back until they are at their table again. The waitress pops up again out of nowhere like the little ninja she must be and Johnny orders another round of shots before he lets himself glance back. Not that he can see anything from their current vantage point. He sighs slumping into his seat. 

“supongo que lo viste?” Carmen asks him from her seat across from him, but he can't quite settle his mind enough to figure out exactly what she’s asking him. He’s pretty sure he can guess though. 

“If you're asking if I saw the guy, yeah I did.” he pauses and eyes her a little. She doesn't look half as surprised as he is. 

“Did you know he was here?” he asks quietly, shaking his head at how soft and vulnerable it comes out. The offended look Carmen shoots at him is enough to know she had no idea and he clears his throat offering her a small look of contrition. 

“Sorry, sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“It’s fine.” she huffs, leaning back as the shots they ordered are brought by. 

“I only saw him a few minutes ago, right before you spun us around. tendría que haberte dicho algo, he was staring straight at you. Then you were singing and you know how that distracts me” she says with a smile.   
(I should have said something to you)

“Voice of a fucking angel right here.” Johnny grins at her knocking his shot glass together with hers. 

‘We can leave. If you want.” she tells him seriously as she licks up the salt on her hand and reaches for the limes on the table. Both of them down their shots at the same time and reach for the next one. 

“Not after all this we can’t” he tells her, sloshing clear tequila over his fingers. They’ve been coming here for years but the quality of the booze gets him every time. 

Carmen laughs flagging down the ninja in the bright red skirt and white top, ordering two more rounds for both of them. 

“Miguel has my car actually. He’s on a date with a very nice girl right now.” 

“Tell me it’s Tori and put me out of my misery woman.” Johnny says fervently, leaning in closer to her across the table. She just laughs shaking her head and he slumps, completely defeated, over the table.

“You need to let that go Johnny,” she tells him indulgently, “neither of the boys are going to be marrying her into the family I don't think.”

“There’s time. They're only 16 and she’s single anyways. Anything can happen Princessa, don't shit all over my dreams here.” he whines face down on the tabletop. He sees four more shots be set down in front of his nose and straightens up. Probably too quickly if the way his head seems to sway is any indication. 

“Bottom’s up Diaz, we gotta make sure we give that goober guy a good show.” Johnny sprinkles salt over the back of their hands, getting more on the table than on them. They both lick, shoot, suck and Johnny laughs because Carmen is laughing and that's reason enough to do it with her.

“It’s Uber! Hahah, not goober!” she says though giggles. They’ve had 3 shots each in thirty minutes, not counting the two earlier or the drinks they had. 

“What? No it’s not. Aisha told me it was goober.” he sputters talking louder than he needed to with her less than two feet away from him across the table. 

“She did not!” Carmen retorts just as loudly. Her body is swaying to the music Johnny isn't even listening to anymore. A man is singing now though, that much he can tell. 

He and Carmen laugh some more. They talk about the kids and the dojo, about how Johnny needs to stop deluding himself and notice that Tori is half in love with Eli. Johnny refuses to believe it but he also knows that Tori can do a lot worse than him. Carmen tells him she applied for a promotion at work and Johnny tells her about how he’s been putting off their application for the All Valley and she berates him for getting the baby cobra’s hopes up if he’s not actually going to follow through. They stay in their own little bubble until the music cuts off and the beat changes to something more like the stuff the kids listen to laid over a track they can still dance to and call it salsa. 

“Let’s finish this one and go back to dance.” Carmen tells him, eyeing him carefully. Johnny shrugs, he’s here for her and all in all they were having a good time all night except for those few minutes. He hasn't seen the other couple, not that he was looking, but for all he knows they could have left.

“Sure, I'll have to hit the head first but let's go.” he says, licking his hand letting her sprinkle the shaker over him liberally. They down their single remaining shot and Johnny jumps slightly when she slams the little glass down harder than necessary. 

“Jesus woman, what the fuck.” Carmen’s not looking at him but she does catch his eye a second later and smiles. 

“Sorry, ok let’s go.” she says, standing up and extending a hand to him the way he had for her a couple of hours earlier. 

“I still gotta piss, I'll meet you out there.” Johnny tells her pressing a kiss to her head and giving her a pat on the ass to move her to the dance floor. He’ll probably have to cut in on some guy when he catches up to her but that’s fine. Johnny wobbles slightly. He’s definitely drunk at this point, old as he is there really is no way to deny it. Even at Carmen’s age it was hard to bounce back after a night out. Now, more than fifty, it’ll be a damn miracle if he manages to drag himself out of bed on time for his first class at 2 tomorrow.

The line for the bathroom is miraculously empty and it feels like the first time Johnny’s caught a break in months. The whole room is mostly soundproof and the disconnect between the rhythmic beat playing throughout the dance hall that seemed to almost settle in his bones for the past few hours and the near silence after stepping through the swinging door has Johnny shaking his head and closing his eyes. His ears feel almost like they need to pop after the assault they've gone through. 

Getting old was a bitch Johnny hadn't been quite ready to meet yet. 

Letting out a small huff Johnny headed straight for the nearest urinal to relieve himself, ignoring the guy further down the line, per regular bathroom courtesy. 

Johnny’s mind wandered as he took care of business, thinking back on dark brown eyes and the fiery look in them across the dance floor from him. He wondered if Daniel actually knew how to dance. He remembered the clenched fist and the pursed mouth and wondered what had put that look on his face. Had it been just the fact that Johnny was there or was there more to it than that. He idly wondered if the man thought he would say something snippy in front of his wife. Out him to her, even. 

His eyes though, hadn't looked scared or worried. They looked hot, scorching, boring into Carmen’s ass. Or Johnny’s hands on it if the way they had heated up even further when they met Johnny’s own ocean blue gaze was any indication. Johnny had no idea what his own stare may or may not have told Daniel in the few seconds their eyes had locked, but Johnny had seen Daniel’s bedroom eyes more times than he could remember in their short time together, and shamefully, had fantasized about them even more in many, many years since. 

A soft ‘fuck’ from his urinal buddy had him stumbling out of those thoughts, mortified to realize he was already more than half hard in his hand. Johnny Let out his own curse and started trying to stuff himself back into his pants. Given they were a pair of good jeans the tight fit was more hindrance than help. 

“Shit man, sorry. It’s not you, it’s me. Too drunk I think.” Johnny got himself put away and gingerly zipped himself up, keeping a close eye on the goods. Shannon’s Ben Stiller Chick Flick phase was still firmly lodged in mind and he did not want to Something About Mary the nads by being careless. 

“It’s fine Johnny, if i was here with someone as beautiful as you are, I’d probably be in the same state.”

Johnny’s mouth ran off with him before he could stop it. 

“You sayin I'm beautiful, Larusso?” 

In front of him Daniel coughed awkwardly but his lips quickly formed a thin, harsh line. 

“I’ve always thought that, but I was talking about your, uh, your date.” he said vaguely, gesturing with his hand to the door and everything beyond it. Johnny wanted to slap himself for talking before he thought, as usual. But here Daniel was, as usual, throwing Johnny off the little game he had left. 

“Carmen, right. Obviously.”

Neither of them moved for a second, and Johnny felt the tension in the air ramp up a notch. 

He rubbed at the back of his neck lightly, feeling the tackiness of the pomade he wore in his fingers. Daniel stared at him openly, with his same dark eyes. They haven't changed much except for the slight wrinkles at the corner and the one deep frown line between them. Those eyes, Johnny could feel, as they took him in from head to toe. They seemed to drink him up as if it was actually the first time they had seen each other. As if those other times over the past few months hadn't even been enough to see all of Johnny. 

When they lingered on his crotch through Johnny couldn't help but close his eyes on a sigh. He snapped his fingers in front of his zipper, smirking inwardly when Daniel jumped slightly and those baby browns widened at being caught. 

“Grow up Larusso, nothing there you haven't seen before. Hasn't changed any since last time you saw it.” Johnny wasn't sure who was more surprised by his words but he was betting on Daniel seeing as how he blushed as bright red as his natural complexion allowed. 

Daniel cleared his throat and his face went through a series of emotions Johnny was too drunk to properly address. He seemed to come to a conclusion though because he straightened his shoulders and shifted his feet into a more secure, grounded position that immediately put Johnny on edge. He distributed his weight between both feet evenly bracing for an attack. 

“All I have to compare it to are memories of you, it’s not like there was ever anyone else for me.” Daniel said. 

Johnny gaped at him hundreds of thoughts flying through his head. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Was that an accusation? Like that was somehow Johnny’s fault? God was that even true? Why would he say something like that ? as if he had never been with anyone after Johnny was out of the picture.

except , no. it true was it?

Johnny could still remember soft rain falling around him as he stepped off the train in Japan trying to remember the landmarks Daniel had told him about to get himself to where his boyfriend and Mr. Miyagi had been staying. 

“Don't let your pretty little wife hear you say that Larusso, she’ll be heartbroken.” he threw back lazily, trying desperately to sound completely unaffected. He wasn't sure he managed, when Daniel laughed harshly. 

“I doubt that,” Daniel said, “and I wasn't talking about her anyways.” 

Oh. 

Well, then. 

“I see, you just meant my dick is the only dick you’ve ever had. Well if you wanna tell him that he was your one and only I'm sure he’d be flattered." Johnny slurred slightly. That last shot was finally making itself known. 

“Jesus Johnny don't be so crass. But yes, you're the only man I was ever with. The only man I’ve ever wanted to be with.” he stopped, eyes intent on Johnny but he couldn't think at the moment. His head was fuzzy and he was over Daniel’s bullshit. He should have left. Carmen was waiting for him. 

“Ah, ah, ah. But not the only person you ever wanted, ain't that right sonny boy? Soon as it wasn't fun and convenient being with me you took off. Right into the sunset. Or sunrise. Wherever the sun does it’s shit in Japan, I can't remember.” he waved him off moving towards the door.

Daniel blocked it, looking furious before shoving Johnny backwards. Johnny was too drunk to keep his balance and fell on his ass. The other man grabbed him by his shirt, yanking him up by his collar. Vaguely Johnny could hear the ping of one of his buttons coming undone but the roaring in his ears covered up everything else. He grimaced slightly at the sour smell of whiskey on the brunette’s breath huffing in his face and he snarled down at him. 

“Fuck you, I didn't leave you! Me going to Japan was not the same as you taking off and never looking back, you prick. You. Left. Me.” Daniel practically screamed into his face. 

Johnny couldn't believe after all these years this man still thought he was a fucking idiot. 

“Japan’s where you picked up your thing for pretty brunette girls though huh.” he snarled at him, smiling with sick satisfaction when he saw that Daniel finally, finally got it. His grip on his collar slackened just enough as a look of shocked horror passed over his face. 

Johnny reached for him with both hands, grabbing his shoulders and yanking him in, unbalancing him awkwardly over the blonde’s body. He hooked his leg around Daniel’s ankle and rolled them both over before the other could react, planting his knees firmly over both elbows and practically sitting on his chest. 

“Decided cock just wasn't what you wanted huh?” Johnny caged him in further, leaning over him and settling his hands on the sticky restroom floor above his head. 

He leaned more on the body beneath him, lowering himself until his still half hard cock rubbed against the top of Daniel’s slightly softer than last time stomach. He could feel it when his breath caught at the contact, only to pick back up even faster beneath him. His pants were so tight he could only imagine how obscene they must look if the hungry way Daniel was licking his lips was any indication. 

“Come on, did you even try any brown haired boys? Or did you just miss pussy that much?” Johnny taunted him. His stomach felt sick thinking about Daniel with another man.

“Cuz I gotta say, spent 4 days watching you and Kumiko, oh yeah I know her name," he explained with a mean grin when he saw Daniel's eyes widen "but I didn't quite see the spark there.”

“Johnny-”Daniel tried, hands grabbing onto any part of Johnny they could.

“But I guess you knew what you wanted didn't you Daniel? More for me I really. You may have only had my dick, but I've ridden just as much cock as I have pussy since I. Left. You” he hissed mirroring his earlier, correct, accusation.   
Johnny didn't care. He was drunk and he was petty and fuck if he wasn't enjoying the heartbroken/guilty/sick look on Daniels face. Johnny leaned himself off the man’s chest and stood up, kicking off the hands that grabbed at his feet. 

“I swear it wasn't like that!” Daniel cried hoarsely behind him. 

Johnny ignored it. 

“Don't care Larusso, you go have your pussy. I'm gonna go try and get myself laid tonight too.” Johnny opened the bathroom door, not even a little surprised to find the Mrs. Larusso standing on the other side. 

He dipped his head to her and headed for the bar, but was stopped by a soft touch to his elbow. He looked at her questioningly. He knew she had seen her husband laid out on the gross bathroom floor calling out Johnny’s name but she didn't look the least bit upset. She looked purposeful and ready to take him down if he pissed her off, and Johnny knew better than to underestimate her immediately. 

“I'm a lesbian.” she said, apropos of nothing. 

Johnny blinked at her completely dumbfounded. She looked like she was waiting for a response though so he said the only thing he couldn't think of. 

“Congratulations?” 

She huffed at him but smiled despite his stupidity. Or maybe because of it. 

“I’m lesbian, and we’re getting divorced. Just thought you’d like to know.” she squeezed his arm once more then let him go. 

Johnny just stared at her as she walked into the men's room, opening the door only wide enough to let her slip through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took forever to write because I REALLY wanted to do them dancing and I hope that came out as steamy as I wanted it to. you guys are the judge of that, so let me know! I just love those two! 
> 
> I know the "reveal" wasn't exactly some dramatic thing Johnny and Daniel but i hope it wasn't a let down and felt as real as I was aiming for. so yes, Johnny went to Japan while Daniel was there and stalked him like only dramatic white ppl can do instead of confronting him like a dramatic hispanic ppl would do. Honestly.   
> there will be more of a discussion of things and Daniel will get to say his piece without being all shocked into silence.
> 
> Did anyone catch the Ben Stiller reference? that made me giggle when i wrote it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who was looking for a Daniel POV, here it is! Tell me what you think! Warning though:Extra long chapter ahead!

Now

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Daniel asked watching his wife stroll into his office. 

She was absolutely beautiful,he had to give her that. The filtered midday sun coming in through the thick glass walls that made up half his office never did him any favors, but seemed to never fail to make her hair gleam brilliantly with all different hues of browns, reds, and golds. 17 years and she looked just as stunning as she had the first time he met her. From the very beginning she held herself with a strength Daniel had been envious of then, and stood beside now. 

“Someone was trying to put Marjorie in her place” Amanda answered with a twinkling smile. 

Daniel frowned as he got up from his desk. That never ended well with his customers. He’d seen Marjorie make people cry but somehow still manage to get them to make an appointment to come back and take the cars for a spin with Daniel. 

“And you left her with them? God Amanda no one deserves that.” 

“He’s fine, more than held his own” she waved him off “he just needed to go to maintenance to pick someone up. I think it was the hospital rep they had dropping off the X-Ray van for service.”

Daniel relaxed slightly but didnt stop from heading to the door to check up on things. The hospital contract was new for them, a nice way to drum up positive PR that didn't cost him much, and he didn't want anything negative getting back to them. 

“I'll just say hi then.” he told her, giving his wife a small kiss to the cheek as he passed by.

“Might wanna catch up then.” Amanda nodded towards the front doors where he could see a woman in bright blue scrubs together with the blonde man wearing sinfully tight jeans that were so faded they were almost white where they hugged the curve of his ass. 

Daniel snapped himself out of those thoughts abruptly shaking his head. He was surprised at himself, he hadn't caught himself checking out another guy in years. Pulling open his office door he plastered on a smile and walked towards the couple. The woman let out a loud, melodic laugh and he saw the blonde flipping Marjorie the bird, making Daniel want to laugh as well. Knowing his receptionist wouldn't be happy he opted to just hurry his steps in order to catch up. 

“DAD! DAD! DADDY! DADA! POP! POP! POPPA!” the loud tone ripped through the otherwise silent showroom startling the man and Daniel stopped mid step in surprise. The man in front of him was fumbling at his white pockets drawing Daniel’s eyes to them again, noting the large black phone that fell to the floor. He reached for it automatically, barely registering the voice above him. 

“I'm going to kill that boy!” it hissed “I told Robby to quit fucking with these damn tone things! He knows I can't change them back” 

Daniel froze, the smile on his face felt grotesque and out of place and he could feel his color growing gray as all the blood drained from his face. 

He would know that voice anywhere, even now decades after he had heard it last he knew who was standing in front of him with their shoulders hunched to their ears and stiff as a board. 

“Go get in the car Carmen, I’ll be right there” the same voice said again. Daniel’s eyes briefly flickered to the woman-Carmen- who was already looking at him, before going straight back to the profile of a man he hadn't seen since he was nothing more than a little boy who knew absolutely nothing in the world no matter how hard he tried. 

Johnny Lawrence turned around and for the first time in 32 years Daniel was looking into ice blue eyes. 

Daniel felt the frozen rictus on his face fade as his muscles slackened in shock. His arm, that had still been extended, fell limply to his side and he could only stare stupidly, drinking in Johnny’s face. He only vaguely registered the fact that Johnny did not look happy. 

Or surprised. 

“Now, Carmen. Please” Johnny spoke to the woman again, though his eyes didn't leave Daniels. Daniel shivered slightly, both at hearing his voice, older and deeper both after so many years, and at hearing Johnny say please. Johnny never said please if he could help it.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her-Carmen- shake her head slightly and push the door behind her open. In front of him Johnny closed his eyes and held out his hand. Daniel stared at it dumbly for a second before reaching out to him. 

“Johnny,” Daniel said roughly. God it had been so long since he spoke the name outside of his fantasies. Ice blue eyes snapped open and glared at him. Daniel snapped his mouth shut, surprised at the venom in Johnny’s eyes. 

“No.” he said with an air of finality in his tone, snatching the phone Daniel had forgotten was still in his hand. 

With that, the blue eyed blonde haired MENACE that had haunted Daniel’s dreams for over 3 decades turned to leave him all over again. Daniel moved before he even thought of reaching out again for Johnny’s arm. 

“Wait! Johnny, wait!” he said, panicked that he may never see the man again. The thought was as painful and unbearable as it had been the first time he had all those years before. 

“No.”Johnny said again, shaking him off with ease, looking him straight in the eye. Johnny didnt stop and Daniel didn't try again. He couldn't even if he wanted to. And he did want to, god did he want to. 

He felt his knees buckle and caught himself in the glass door, the wind from the overhead fan gusting over him as he watched the only person he had ever been IN love with walk away from him and towards the beautiful woman waiting for him. His gut clenched tightly when she placed a hand over his cheek and just looked at him. Even from so far away he could see the love between them as they hugged and she slid into the car. Johnny glanced back at him briefly as he rounded the hood. 

Daniel wanted to do something, anything to get him to stop, to stay, to talk to him for just one minute. But he couldn't do anything at all as he watched Johnny get into the car and drive away. 

Then. 

Daniel hung up the phone and stared at the receiver for a few seconds before walking down the small hallway to the room he had been given to sleep in. He was surprised at how much he missed Johnny. Talking to him once a day when they had been seeing each other almost daily since right after the tournament and all but living together the last two weeks ever since his asshole step dad kicked him out with no money was harder than he thought it would be. Daniel loved falling asleep next to the blonde and waking up with him in his arms. He was positive he wanted to do the rest of his life. As glad as he was to have come to Japan with Mr. Miyagi, having to miss Johnny’s birthday that next weekend was going to be tough. He hoped at least Bobby would reach out, since from what Johnny had told him the boy hadn't been involved in Dutch’s cruel “prank”.

Now.

Daniel had loved a good picnic with the family probably about 5 years ago. Anthony had been six and Sam had been about eleven. Both kids still talked to him and wanted to spend time with him. Sam loved to do kata with him and Anthony had been the best movie buddy Daniel could have asked for. Things had slowly changed over the previous 5 years or so but it was still nice to get out with the family every once in a while, even if it was with all the families of all the employees in both dealerships. A company picnic, Amanda had said. 

They had brought canopies for the food and for the tables and had booked the entire area of the park just for them. So when his frisbee managed to go over Anthony’s head and into the trees he didn't think too much about it, just waved at Anthony to go get it. He knew his son wasn't athletically inclined but it was still nice that he had agreed at all to play and Daniel was going to take advantage of the good mood. 

He frowned when he saw his son linger at the tree line and rolled his eyes. Of course Anthony didn't want to go into the trees. The picnic itself was more outdoorsy than the boy was fond of. Jogging lightly to catch up Daniel called out to him. He gasped slightly and sped into a run when he saw a man emerge from the trees with the frisbee. 

“Anthony!” he cried out again. Both figures turned to look at him and Daniel was once again shocked speechless by the sight of Johnny Lawrence close enough to touch. 

The look on Johnny’s face didn't welcome the urge of course, so Daniel shoved the thought away reluctantly. 

Johnny was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants that Daniel tried to tell himself emphatically did not invite dirty thoughts no matter what he could or could not see in them. The black tank top he wore was ribbed lightly and stretched tightly his chest. It had an insignia and logo over his right pectoral but Daniel couldn't see what it was or what it said at a distance without his glasses. Daniel knew he was staring but he couldn't help it. He couldn't imagine anything could make him rip his gaze away from Johnny at the moment. 

“Anthony why don't you take this back to the table. Tell your mom I said you could take out your game to play, I think we are done with this thing anyways.” he said keeping his eyes trained on the ice blue ones in front of him. He wasn't sure it wasn't some fever dream of his. 

Johnny Lawrence walking around the park, in the woods no less. Johnny belonged on a beach with shorts and no shirt and sand blending in with the sandy blonde hair sprinkled over his arms and legs. 

Daniel Cleared his throat. 

“Johnny, what? What are you doing here? I tried to look for you after last time but it was a company vehicle so I couldn't” he stammered, mentally berating himself for sounding like an idiot and a stalker simultaneously. 

“Jesus LaRusso, Stalker much?” Johnny said incredulously. Daniel winced, he deserved that. Johnny continued before Daniel had a chance to say anything. 

“Don't you dare use Carmen's information to find me you got that? Stay away from her.” 

Daniel swallowed harshly “Yeah uh” he cleared his throat “yeah of course sorry. I just uh. I wanted to talk to you. I never saw you again after-”

“Stop!” Johnny yelled and Daniel winced at the volume. He wanted to turn around to see if they had drawn any attention but he was still too afraid to look away from the man in front of him. Not that it seemed to matter either way though. Johnny looked ready to take off at any second. 

“I gotta go” he spat, once again confirming Daniel’s thoughts. 

The idea that Daniel could still read Johnny so clearly was more than a little bittersweet. 

“Wait Johnny please let me just-can't you just let me talk to you for a minute?" be practically begged, already knowing the answer from the shifty look in his eyes. 

“Don’t you got a wife out there to talk to LaRusso?” Johnny threw back harshly. 

Johnny was always an asshole when he was angry but he had no right to be mad at that.

He was not the one who came home to an empty bedroom. 

He wasn't the one who stayed up night after night hoping Johnny would show up. He wasn't the one who spent hours on the phone to every hospital in the LA and OC praying for both a confirmation and another dead end. Daniel was the one who had spent weeks tracking down anyone who might have been able to give him an answer as to where the hell Johnny was or why he had left to begin with. 

Even after he had given up any hope of seeing Johnny again, Daniel had spent years wondering if Johnny was dead somewhere, heartbroken that he hadn't been there for him, until he had run into Johnny’s mama one day at the mall. She had been alone and had not recognized him at all. It had been over 5 years since she had last seen him as a scrawny 17 year old so he couldn't blame her. She had told him that of course Johnny was fine, he was just out of state at the time. Daniel had been so stunned and confused his heart had broken all over again and he had stumbled away from her with a barely coherent goodbye. 

Daniel's eyes narrowed dangerously and he knew Johnny could see the anger reflected in them by the way he faced him fully and squared off against him as if ready for a physical blow. Daniel wasn't in any kind of shape to take Johnny on but he would be damned if he let Johnny get away with throwing his wife in his face. 

As if he didnt know that Daniel would have preferred to be with him.

“Well” Daniel hissed at him “I never would have had a wife if-” 

“Dad!” a voice called out amongst the trees interrupting Daniel mid sentence and making him jump slightly. Daniel watched Johnny’s big round eyes dart behind him as a teenager walked into their line of sight. 

“Hey there you are old man we gotta get going if we're gonna make it back to the parking lot on time” the boy called when he spotted them. 

This was Johnny’s son. 

It was the same voice from the ring tone Daniel noticed absently. The boy had long bronzed hair with perfect sun kissed skin he must have gotten from his mother, Daniel realized with a jolt. He had Johnny’s nose and cheekbones and the two shared the same heartrending smile but the similarities ended there. 

Johnny was a dad. 

He had made a life with someone who wasn't Daniel. 

Daniel knew it was unfair to be upset over something he had done as well, but given the unnatural end to their relationship, it stung fiercely. 

He saw Johnny and the boy look over at him and couldn't bring himself to even attempt at a smile. 

“I’m right here Robby, lets go.” Johnny said, turning to walk away from Daniel AGAIN. 

Robby Lawrence. 

Daniel had always liked the name Robert. 

Then

“God Johnny it’s beautiful out here! We have to come back one day so i can show you everything.” Daniel sighed into the phone. He had only been in japan for a few days but he already knew he was in love. Everything was breathtaking and extravagant in a calm way that just seemed to call to him. He heard Johnny yawn through the line and rolled his eyes. 

“Are you falling asleep again?” he asked his boyfriend. The time difference was harder on Johnny seeing as how even though it was 10 at night for Daniel, it was 5 in the morning for Johnny. 

“Na, I'm awake. Just love hearing about all the stuff you're getting to see while I sit on my ass over here.” Johnny said, not unkindly, but Daniel could hear the lonely bitterness in his voice.

“Hey I’m sorry I'm not there. I know it's tough with the Cobras and Kreese and your mom and the money thing, but you know I had to come with Mr. Miyagi.”

“You wanna tell me what else in my life is shit right now Danny-boy” Johnny drawled through the line. 

Daniel winced. Yeah he probably could have said that better. Before he could apologize though Johnny continued.

“Of course you had to go with him, I would have been disappointed in you if you hadn't. Doesn't make it any easier.”

“Yeah the timing could have been better. So I'm sorry for that at least.” he said. 

Daniel let Johnny take over the conversation, listening to the cadence of the blonde’s voice, slightly distorted through the long distance call. Before he knew it their 10 minutes were up and they needed to say goodbye before the phone bill shot through the roof. Daniel could tell him about all the people he met so far next time. 

Now. 

Daniel tried his best to avoid Amana’s eyes as he got dressed and fled down the stairs to make breakfast for the kids before school. He knew she thought he was being stupid even if she was willing to support him throught it all. He had no proof Johnny’s son -Robby- even went to the same school as Samantha, but it was worth a shot. 

“It’s not if he’s an asshole to you again.” Amanda had told him dryly. 

“He hasn't been an asshole” Daniel responded not sure if it was a lie or not. Johnny definitely been unkind but he wasn't sure he would call him an asshole. 

“You're only saying that because you're still in love with him.” Amanda said. 

Daniel ignored her. 

“I’ll let the kids know I'm going to take them. I’ll leave your coffee downstairs.” he told her without meeting her eyes. 

In the end he would end up taking Sam only. Zero period cheer had her getting there an hour early and Anthony refused to show up at school before he needed to. 

So there he was watching his daughter go start her Junior year in high school. Daniel could barely remember his Junior year. New Jersey seemed like a few lifetimes away. 

He sat in his car for a few minutes longer wondering what he was doing. He had no idea what he was going to say to Johnny to get him to just stay still long enough to talk to him. He just wanted answers. He had so many questions but none of the answers he had ever made up ever made any sense to him. 

Before he could come up with anything, a small commotion caught his attention. Looking in the rearview mirrors he saw a small group of kids laughing and standing around a tall blonde. He saw Robby in the crowd and jumped out of the car scanning the parked cars around him. He made out what he thought was Johnny’s car, but it was empty. Daniel sighed and tried to focus on the group without looking like he was eavesdropping.

He saw an arm reach out and snatch Robby against a broad chest for a tight hug before they let him and the other boy with them go. Both boys looked pained and embarrassed but quickly got over it as the blonde-who at this point Daniel was sure was Johnny- hugged each kid there before the group headed inside the school. 

Daniel strode closer trying not to catch anyone's attention. Johnny of course had no such qualms over making himself the center of everyone's attention. 

“Miguelcito!” he called out loudly making his son and the boy next to him cringe visibly even from behind. 

“What.” Robby’s friend hissed back at Johnny. Daniel had no experience with teenage boys other than being one himself, but he was sure he never would have spoken to his buddy’s dad that way. Daniel stopped, wondering what Johnny was going to say. From where stood he could barely see the edge of his mouth curl up in either a smile or a sneer.

“Don't forget your mom is going to be picking you boys up today after school. Do not make her wait too long for you guys, please. You know she’ll need her rest after her shift.” Johnny told the boys in front of him softly but firmly. 

Daniel saw both boys nod and look at each other. They looked like they were having a full conversation with their eyes, before they turned as one to catch up with the group who had stopped when Johnny had called out to them. 

To tell them that their mom would pick them up. 

Both of the boys were Johnny’s. He had two boys in high school. Daniel watched Johnny watch his sons walk away from him and stamped down on the feeling of unfairness in his gut. He loved his children just as much as Johnny obviously loved his own, but he couldn't help the pang in his chest that said they should have been their children. JohnnyandDaniels. Not Johnny's kids and Daniel’s kids. 

Daniel forced himself to talk even though it felt like gravel coming out. 

“They seem like good boys, you must be very proud.” he said and waited for Johnny to turn around. 

“Fancy seeing you here LaRusso. Since you know, I never have before“ he said with a sigh. It was an accusation, one that was true, so Daniel nodded in acknowledgement. 

“I usually let Amanda take care of drop off but well, I” Daniel trailed off remembering he still had not come up with anything to say at this point. 

"What do you want, LaRusso?" Johnny asked him, sounding so very done already but still there in front of him, not even looking like he was thinking of leaving yet. Daniel could work with that. So he gathered up any courage he had and straightened his shoulders. 

“Look John I'm not going to lie about coming here hoping I would see you-" he started holding up a hand to stop anything Johnny was going to say.. " Johnny please, you disappeared on me over thirty years ago, and then you show up like some sort of fever dream. I just want to talk. Please?"

Daniel sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and fought down the urge to say more. If Johnny didn't want to he wasn't going to no matter how much begging Daniel did. In front of him Johnny groaned. 

"Dammnit LaRusso don't gimme that look, fine! We can talk, just, you know, not here." he said eyes darting at the uptick in kids and parents around them. Daniel couldn't have cared less who was around as long as Johnny had agreed. 

"OK yeah, yes? Perfect. Awesome. Ok uh, how about the diner down off of sixth street? Say, 10 minutes?" He stammered like an idiot trying to keep a smile on his face as Johnny stepped closer to him. 

"OK, yeah sure, 10 minutes. But you get one hour, then you gotta go back to that pretty wife of yours. Got it?" He said, pushing his fingers into Daniels chest. 

Daniel scowled at that. Like Johnny had any room to talk about a pretty wife. He fixed his face into something more neutral before he could scare the man away. And nodded his head. 

“Ok, one hour” he said and turned back to his car. 

Daniel dialed Amanda before they even got back to his car and she answered immediately. 

“I’ve got baby ears in the car, tell me something sweet.”

“A group of kittens is called a kindle.” Daniel said, smiling as he got in the car. 

“I’m pretty sure you’ve used that one before but i’ll let it slide. What’s up. How did drop off go?” she asked him. Daniel hesitated to answer. He wasn't entirely sure what to say. It had gone well, he thought. Or as well as it was going to go with someone as prickly as Johnny was insistent on being. 

“Good” he croaked. Daniel cleared his throat and tried again. “It went good. As good as I can hope for I guess. He agreed to talk anyway.”

Amanda huffed at him down the line. 

“Daniel, you know you don't have to take the attitude from him. You're not the one who did anything wrong. You know that right?”

Daniel saw pouring rain and lush green hillsides flash through his mind. 

“I mean I wasn't exactly perfect Amanda.” he said half heartedly. Daniel had been far from perfect towards the pseudo end of their relationship and he knew that part of him felt he deserved the rebuke from Johnny. 

He just wished he KNEW. 

“Woah, did dad just admit he wasn't perfect?” he heard Anthony say. Probably from the backseat. 

Daniel could see dark, black hair being loosened from a top knot and tumbling down onto thin narrow shoulders. 

“Nope” he said “I definitely wasn't.”

“You are now though." Amanda said quietly. 

“Meh, it's debatable.” came Anthony's tinny voice again and Daniel laughed. 

“Well either way, i just wanted to let you know i'm gonna be late getting in today Mandy. You and Anoush can hold down the fort till I get there. And Anthony, have a great first day of middle school kiddo.” Daniel hung up before Amanda could say more. 

He had already passed the diner so he flipped a bitch at the next intersection and made his way back. Daniel’s heart sank a little when he didn't see Johnny’s car only to perk back up when he saw him around the side of the building in the corner spot under a giant tree. He was standing under the tree, leaned against the hood of the car with his long legs spread wide in front of him. Daniel parked a couple of spots away and got out of his car. Quietly he walked up to the man and saw a soft smile on his face. 

Daniel’s heart clenched at the sight. It was a different smile to anything he had ever seen on the blonde’s face and he realized he had no idea what it meant. This was a look Johnny Daniel had never seen. It was a new one born somewhere in the last three decades. Daniel shoved his hands in his pockets and moved closer. 

"What's so funny?” he asked him, pleased to see he didn't flinch at the sound of his voice the way he had the last two times, but kept the small soft smile on his face.

“Carmen and I met here actually. It's still our spot for a midnight snack sometimes”

Daniel felt slightly sick. He had been there plenty of times over the years. What would have happened if he had run into Johnny before she had??

“We could have gone somewhere else,” Daniel said hoping Johnny didn't notice the dryness of his voice. 

“Nah, this is good. It’s been a busy summer and we haven't had time to come in a while.” Johnny waved him off.

“I mean really I’m pretty sure there’s something else around here, I wouldn't want to intrude.” Daniel mumbled feeling slightly sick at the thought of sitting down with Johnny in a place where he shared intimacies with someone else. He saw Johnny raise his head and quickly averted his eyes, knowing they would give something away. 

“Look LaRusso, this little chat was your idea after all ok, let’s just go in and get this over with. Your hour has already started anyways.” he snapped. 

It was the first time Daniel noticed Johnny wasn't using his first name at all. It shouldn't have hurt, Johnny hardly ever used his first name even when they were together, but it felt so juvenile and outdated. 

“So I'm just LaRusso again am I?” he asked him, steadily returning his gaze.

Johnny straightened up, pushing away from the car he had been leaning against.

“It’s been a hell of a long time since you were anything else, and we are not going to talk about that. We talk about the here and now or we don't talk at all got it?” he sneered. 

And no. No, that was not ok. That was the whole point of this and Johnny damn well knew that! He had to know what Daniel was expecting. 

“Damnit Johnny that isn't fair! I haven't seen or heard from you in more than 30 years. It's been a whole lifetime since then and I deserve some answers! I need to know why.” he yelled pushing towards Johnny.

“You seem to have had a perfectly fine lifetime, LaRusso, so who gives a fuck why, huh," Johnny sneered " and maybe if you used that brain you got in that pretty little head of yours you’d figure it out.”

“Who gives a fuck? I obviously give a fuck! You were just gone Johnny! What was I supposed to think? I couldn't go to your friends, your mom wouldn't tell me anything, I had no clue what had happened!” Daniel cried, grabbing Johnny's shoulders roughly only to be shoved back just as roughly. 

“What fucking friends LaRusso?” Johnny exploded “I didn't have any of those left remember? But of course that didn't affect you directly so why would you even think about it right? As long as it does not cause any problems in Daniel LaRusso’s life then it may as well not even exist. Get off your high horse, man. If you were that worried about me you would have found me. I didn't even try to hide where I was going”

“That's not fair Johnny, I did care about that! You know I did!” he had no idea how Johnny could even think Daniel didn't care for him. It was insane to imagine a Daniel Larusso who didn't fall for Johnny Lawrence. 

“Yeah you said you did alright, but you couldn't wait to leave the second you could right?” Johnny sneered at him. 

Daniel took a deep breath, glaring at Johnny. This whole conversation was not going the way he had wanted it to. Though, really he had no idea what he had been expecting. 

"I had to Johnny, you know that.” he said through gritted teeth.

“No, you didn't. You wanted to. To go and have yourself a little adventure no matter what you were leaving behind. Didn't think anything about us poor losers back here in SoCal did you? Whole new life you got yourself. I'm surprised you even came back.” Johnny replied with so much conviction Daniel had no idea what to say. 

"Of course I came back. I was always going to come back, Johnny." Daniel said, confusion coming through in his voice. He saw Johnny’s face shutter. 

“This was a mistake. I should have known better. I'm leaving." He said flatly, turning back to his car.

"Wait, Johnny come on." Daniel pleaded scrambling behind him "Here and now right? Wha-what uh, if we do that. What if we shelve the rest?" 

“That’s what I just said and we couldn’t go 30 seconds without the rest. Nothing is going to change.” Johnny sighed, opening the driver side door and sliding in. 

“It’s just the two of us here, Johnny. I think we can do whatever we want.” Daniel told him. They were grown men at this point. Daniel wasn't going to let Johnny walk away quite so easily. 

"Fine, yeah. Just not today LaRusso. I'm too tired for this shit. And also I'm too pissed to even look at you anymore today" Johnny said. 

Daniel’s stomach churned with anticipation. He figured asking for Johnny’s number wasn't going to be taken well so he opted for making plans right away.

"Saturday? We can meet wherever. Just maybe not here." he said, throwing a reproachful look over his shoulder at the diner. He was never going to be able to eat there again. 

"Nothing wrong with this place,” Johnny said defensively “I come here all the time wi-"

"Yeah, yeah I know, all the time.” Daniel cut him off with a wave, hoping Johnny didn't pick up in his annoyance. Judging by the raised eyebrow and amused look on his face, he wasn't so lucky. 

“Just, let's go somewhere else. Don't want to drive all the way to the school area if I don't have to ya know" he asked plaintively. Anywhere else would be fine with him. 

"Fine, whatever. You know where Sal's is? The bar? Seven, Saturday. Don't be late LaRusso. The Mrs. might accept some half assed excuses but I’m not as forgiving."

"I'll be on time as long as you're there when I show up" Daniel responded evenly, ignoring the jibe. Johnny did not respond, just scowled again and nodded before pulling the door shut and starting the engine. Daniel stepped back far enough to let him pull away. 

Then.

Daniel dragged himself inside, ready to drop onto his bedroll and sleep for hours. A whole day of climbing the hills around the village followed by hanging out with Kumiko half the night had him past tired and edging far into exhaustion. He hadn't even noticed the time until Kumiko mentioned it being past midnight. Daniel hoped Mr. Miyagi had already gone to bed. It was the second night in a row he was getting back late and the disappointed look he had gotten the night before was hard enough to swallow. As quietly as he could he shut the door behind him and crept through the kitchen. 

“Daniel-San” came a voice out of the darkness, and Daniel yelped, barely managing not knocking over the table where Mr. Miyagi sat. 

“Jeez Mr. Miyagi! Give a guy a warning why don't you! What are you doing sitting in the dark like this?” 

Mr. Miyagi only stared at him, taking a long sip of his tea. Daniel pulled out the chair across from him and sat down, ready to wait for the old man to decide to speak again. Luckily it didn't take long. 

“You spend much time with Kumiko-San, yes?” he asked, not making eye contact with Daniel but continuing to sip on his tea. Daniel shifted slightly in his seat feeling caught out, though he wasn't sure why.

“Ah yeah, Kumiko is nice. Showin me a lot of real cool stuff around here.”

“Oh.” was the only response. 

“Uh yeah, I mean, you know. She’s taken me into the city and stuff. That's where we were today. She showed me all around over there.” Daniel said, rubbing his neck. He felt hot all of a sudden even though he knew the rain from earlier left behind a frigid cold. 

“Ah, I see.” Mr. Miyagi said “you tell her you need birthday present for Mr. Lawrence.” 

Daniel blinked, unsure of what to say. He hadn't exactly told Kumiko about Johnny. It wasn't like he could just tell her about his boyfriend could he? Even though Mr. Miyagi hadn't battered an eyelash, Japan was just as bad about all that as America was so there was no need to let her know. Mr. Miyagi bringing up Johnny did remind him though that he hadn't called him tonight. Or the night before. He had tried to get away earlier to make it back in time for their phone call but Kumiko had asked him something and smiled at him in the way she always did and he had forgotten completely. 

“I should call him actually.” he said slowly getting up from the table. Mr.Miyagi ignored him again, only paying attention to his tea. 

Now.

“Are you sure I look ok?” Daniel asked Amanda, who poked her head out of the closed holding two different sets of shoes in her hand. 

“Did you change again?” she snickered, rolling her eyes at him. Daniel huffed crossing his arms in annoyance. 

“Forget it, I'll go ask Sam.” he told her, turning to leave the room. 

“Ok, ok sorry. Don't go ask your daughter how you look for your date with some man.” Amanda said catching his arm. 

“He’s not some man,” Daniel said, tiredly. They had been having this conversation all week and he was tired of it. He knew Amanda was just worried about him, but he was worn out from having the same conversation over and over.

He had married his best friend. A woman who was smart, and capable, and a closeted lesbian hiding from her family, in order to avoid the monotonous arguments he might have otherwise had with a wife who he lied to all the time. He did not appreciate having to deal with her constant nagging. 

Not that he was about to tell her that.

“And it’s not a date. Yes I know Daniel, but still. I don’t think it’s wise to involve the kids.”

“What? Why not? They know you go on dates.” he told her confused and not a little bit upset at the implication that it was ok for her, but not ok for him. 

“I’ve casually dated yes, and the kids know we have nothing more than a paper marriage and strong friendship between us, but this is different. You can't tell me that if he told you he was sorry and he still loves you and to run away with him, you wouldn't go.” she told him. 

“I would never leave you and the kids like that, you know that.” he frowned at her. 

Amanda sighed and leant her tall frame against him. 

“You wouldn't run away of course. But you would go to him. And I want that for you Daniel, really I do. I’d be the first person to ask for a divorce if you thought there was a chance of you two getting back together after all this time. I'm just saying maybe don't involve the kids until we absolutely need to.” 

Daniel looked at his wife. She didn't look upset or angry. She looked worried. He had thought it was worry for him, but of course she knew he could handle himself. She was worried about their family and what all of this could possibly mean for them. 

“Your right. You're always right. Except it won't ever involve them. Johnny doesn't want me, he's made that pretty clear. Besides him and Carmen and their boys look happy.”

Daniel drove himself to Sal’s making sure to show up early. He had only been there a handful of times with some of the guys from the dealership after work. He managed to find parking right in front and decided to wait in the car. A few minutes later he heard a movement near the entrance caught his attention and he watched a woman unmount from the motorcycle she had just ridden in on. 

Daniel watched her with a smile as she shoved at the driver. His gut churned and he felt bile at the back of his throat when none other than Johnny Lawrence pulled off his helmet and scowled at who Daniel could only assume was Carmen. 

Daniel unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car on autopilot. He watched as Johnny reached out and grabbed at Carmen’s jacket pulling her in close to him. Carmen tipped her head back, exposing her long neck to him. Johnny touched her there, with soft sure fingertips. He took his time, Daniel thought. Practically groping her in the parking lot, before taking her helmet off of her himself. 

Johnny finally pulled back doing something with the bike before getting off and leaning against it with Carmen standing in front of him. 

Daniel felt sick For all his talk about Daniel making excuses, it looked like Johnny was the one who wasn't able to get away. If he even tried. Johnny hasn't taken his eyes off of the beautiful woman in front of him. He wore that same soft smile he had the last time he had seen him. It was his “i’m thinking about Carmen and how wonderful she is” smile, Daniel was sure of it. 

He watched, completely transfixed by the sight of Johnny Lawrence smoothing down a woman’s hair and tucking it behind her ear, letting himself be kissed, savoring the moment with his eyes closed. 

This was a mistake. Daniel had lived a happy life without Johnny in it and this was too high a price to pay for answers. 

“If you didn't want to come anymore LaRusso, you didn't need to show up just to let me down easy.” Johnny said breaking him from his thoughts. He hadn't even noticed the man move. 

“I asked you here, of course I wanted to come.” he said, still looking off towards where Johnny had parked. He didn't see any sign of Carmen coming back out. She must be getting them a table. 

Daniel was going to throw up. 

“Then what's wrong with your face? You wanted me to come right? Here I am.” Johnny spread his arms and motioned to himself.

“Of course I wanted you.” Daniel said, stopping himself before he could tell him how much he wanted him, how much he still wanted him. Daniel let his eyes move over Johnny’s body, taking in the tight clothes that clung to him nicely. Even at fifty the man was beautiful. 

“Whatever, let’s just go in.” Johnny huffed. Daniel hesitated slightly. This wasn't what he wanted. He wasn't sure he could make it through sitting and watching the small intimacies between Johnny and someone else. 

“Just come on.” Johnny said and started towards the bar. Daniel pulled himself together and went with him. Maybe what he really needed was an excuse to move on. 

Johnny led them to a table where he let Daniel order a drink and then just sat back and looked at him. He couldn't help but scan the bar for any sign of Carmen. 

He didn't see one. 

“Waiting for someone?” Johnny asked him curiously, startling Daniel slightly.

“No, are you?” Daniel shot back, staring Johnny down. 

“Uh no? You're the one who looks like he’s waiting for someone to pop in.” he squirmed in his seat. 

Daniel deflated at that and mumbled a whatever. Either she would show up or not, but he had a feeling he should take what he could get while he was here. They settled into small talk about their kids and school and other small things. Carmen came up in conversation once or twice,but she never actually showed up. Hearing about her and Bobby had made something ache in his chest. He knew why they hadn't ever spent time with their friends but it still stung to hear about everything he could do with her that they never had the chance to. 

Johnny was kind and at ease most of the night until Daniel mentioned Mr. Miyagi’s passing a few years before. He still asked questions and offered his condolences, but he looked more and more uncomfortable. Daniel knew he was pushing it and that things most likely wouldn't end well but he already had gotten more than he had expected out of the night, he could see how happy Johnny was and he didn't expect anything more. 

If this was going to be the end he might as well get everything he had been bottling up out there. 

“Your bike is still there.” he blurted into the uncomfortable silence “I never moved it, you know.”

He saw Johnny suck in a breath and rushed on, speaking over him. 

“I came home and saw it there and was so excited you were home because you hadn't been answering my phone calls in over a week and I couldn't wait to talk to you, but you weren't there.” he said remembering how anxious he was to get out of Japan and back to Johnny.

Johnny spoke but Daniel ignored him, plowing on. It was now or never. 

“So I waited, thought you maybe left for a run. Or you were with the weird neighbors you liked. Or maybe your mom called and wanted to see you. So I waited there for hours.” he watched Johnny push back from the table but he didn't make a move to get up so he continued. 

“And then I fell asleep, and then it was morning and you still weren't back so I got worried.” he could hear Johnny talking but the words didn't make any sense to him, too lost in his memory of the first days back. 

“So I went outside to see Mr. Miyagi, and found him talking to the weird neighbors who said you left two days before and asked them to please come over and water the bonsai’s because you weren't coming back!” Daniel knew he was yelling, but he couldn't stop and all the anger and fear came back to him. 

Johnny finally stood up to leave but Daniel couldn't let him go, the pain from losing was too raw even so long after. He caught up to him by the door, finally giving into the urge to touch him. He leaned into Johnny’s body, hiding his face in his shoulder. 

“I get you have a fucking happy life John, but we were supposed to do it all together. We had a whole plan, Johnny, and you left me and I don't know why.” he whined into his back. 

Daniel felt Johnny take a deep breath before pushing him back. He held down the tears that were threatening behind his eyelids and moved to leave too. This was enough he figured. He needed to go home. To Amanda and the kids, and be happy with his own fucking happy life. 

Johnny was still standing next to his bike when Daniel walked outside. 

“I asked you not to do this, and you agreed! You agreed and it was the only reason I came here tonight. All of that shit is over LaRusso. It's been over for years! Like I said, I moved on with my life! Why can't you!?”

Daniel couldn't stop his face from contorting at the pain he felt hearing Johnny say he had moved on. He knew it obviously, but hearing it was another thing altogether. 

“You left me first, LaRusso,” Johnny yelled. The words sounded choked coming out. 

Daniel gaped at him. 

“What? I would never, I didn't leave you! Was that it? You were mad I went to Japan with Mr. Miyagi so you left?” he asked, completely bewildered by the statement. That wasn't possible. Johnny had told him repeatedly it was the right thing to do. 

“I was always going to come back! ” Daniel cried. 

“Jesus, of course not! Even as petty as I was at 18 I understood why you went. The timing sucked yeah but gimme some credit.” Johnny scoffed at him, but his face was telling a completely different story. He looked pained and confused. Daniel didn't know what to say to him to get him to open up. To give him a real explanation. 

He settled for telling him the only truth he knew. 

“I just, I-I fuck, Johnny I love you.” he said. Johnny looked as if he had been slapped, his face whipped to the side and contorted in pain. 

His voice when he spoke still held that choked quality to it, like was as close to tears as Daniel was.

“Don't Daniel. Don't say you loved me.”

“I’m not Johnny. I'm saying I love you. I still love you. I never stopped loving you.” Daniel said desperately, willing him to understand and believe him, 

“You don’t. You're married. With two great kids. And a great career. You don't love me” he said defeatedly, and it hurt Daniel so much to hear him sound that way. 

“I do! I did the best I could but don’t think there's a day that went by that I didn't think of you and wish you were the one there beside me. Amanda is amazing, she is, but she’s not you John.” he said, taking a tentative step towards Johnny but he stepped back, almost knocking his bike over.

A new voice from the side started them both.

“John? Is everything ok?” Carmen said. She looked between them confusedly and Daniel had no idea where she came from but he couldn't believe he had forgotten about her. 

“Uh yeah. Fuck, yeah, sorry, everything is fine. Sorry. I’ll just, I-I'll just go.” Daniel said looking over at Johnny. He took him in one last time before turning to walk away. There was no point in staying any longer. 

Then. 

At this point Daniel was pretty sure Kumiko liked him. He liked her too, well enough anyways. She was sweet and kind, with a core of steel. The complete opposite of Johnny who was so rough on top but completely soft and fluffy underneath all the bluster. Sometimes he saw her looking at him with want heavy in her eyes and Daniel wasn't sure what to do with it. He had already told her he was single so it wasn't like he could change his mind and explain he had someone already. And it was kinda nice, having someone around who did not hide their feelings for him. Someone who he could hold hands with on the street and put his arm around while they walked and no one would have any problems with it. He knew he shouldn't enjoy the little touches. It wasn't fair to Kumiko when it wouldn't go any further than small hidden kisses and it definitely wasn't fair to Johnny who was waiting for him to come home. But it was nice to be wanted openly instead of just behind closed doors. He knew it wasn't Johnny’s fault exactly but that didn't stop the loneliness from creeping in sometimes. He wondered if he loved Johnny enough to live his whole life hiding. For now he ignored it and watched Kumiko run towards him, catching her in his arms and spinning her around and dropping kisses to her head and letting her tell him about the american she met in the city earlier that day. 

Now. 

“I want a divorce.” Amanda said as she walked into his office with a stack of papers in her hand. 

Daniel froze in his seat and could only gape at her as she closed the door behind her and repeated herself. She was smiling widely at him as she sat down on the chair in front of his desk. 

“What?” he asked her. 

“A divorce.” she said again.

Daniel put down his pen and rubbed at his eyes as if they were the problem. 

“Yes Amanda, I heard what you said. Why? I thought everything was fine.” 

“Of course it is” she said calmly “but all the reasons we had for marrying in the first place are gone. My father is dead and my mother wont have any stupid provisions in her will about marriage or children. The kids know we don't have a regular marriage anyways, so that won't matter. You don't even have to move out. You can keep your room at the house. If you want everything can stay the same except we won't be married.”

“You’ve thought about this,” Daniel said stunned. 

“Ever since you told me about Johnny this past summer.” she confirmed, holding his gaze. 

“This should have nothing to do with Johnny” Daniel said firmly “he made it clear he wants nothing to do with me. If you think you're doing me some kind of favor with this don't bother.” 

Amanda sighed and leaned forward in her chair to rest her arms on the desk and look into his eyes.

“I’ve already told you that’s really not what it sounded like to me but that’s fine. If you got closure or whatever you want to call it, then that’s fine too. It’s past time you moved on and saw if you could feel for another man the way you felt for him. And if i find a woman to fall in love with too then that’s nothing to sneeze at either.” she grinned. 

Daniel wasn't sure how to feel about that. He was not in any way ready to move on from Johnny but he did get a small amount of closure from their disastrous meeting two weeks before. He took Amanda in and saw the bright, energetic, beautiful woman she had always been. If anyone was going to fall in love, it was going to be her. And if all he had to do was sign some papers and call her his ex wife to those around him he was more than willing to do it. 

“Ok” he said “let's get divorced.” 

Amanda beamed at him with her giant megawatt smile.

“Fantastic. You're taking me out for a last date tonight. We can call the lawyers in morning to figure out how to split the dealerships. We’ll still be co-owners.”

“Of course we will be,” he agreed with her. There was no way he could do any of this without her anyways. 

Daniel didn't particularly like dancing, but there was very little he wouldn't do for Amanda. He had stayed late at the office at Amanda's insistence that he did not need to be there to meet Sam’s date. He wasn't too sure about that, but considering the fact that his mom was going to be coming with him he figured that alone was more than enough embarrassment for the poor kid. So when he got home to a dressed up Amanda wearing a long red dress and heels that made her slightly taller than Daniel, he knew it was going to be dancing before she even said anything. 

“Anoush said something about taking a date to a salsa club last week. I figured we could do that, bring back some of the flare from our wedding.” she told him with a smile. 

It wasn't until they were a few drinks in and heading onto the dance floor that he thought she may have had an ulterior motive. 

“You just mean I'm more willing to feel you up while we dance once I'm buzzed. Admit it Princessa, you love me getting my hands all over you.” 

Daniel gasped as he heard the low words and the tinkling laughter that followed. He tried to turn his head to see the other couple but Amanda took a hold of his chin. 

“Don’t Daniel. You said you wanted to get over it right? Maybe you need a reality check to see that he’s actually with someone else, and from the looks of it, they're happy.” 

Daniel couldn't believe Amanda would do this to him. It was cruel to make him watch the man he was still very much in love with, be in love with someone else. 

“This is too far Amanda. How did you even know they were going to be here?” Amanda looked slightly ashamed of herself, but she still wrapped her arms around his neck and began to step with the music. Daniel followed her movements out of instinct. 

“I have my ways” she said, avoiding his eyes “we’ll leave that for another conversation.”

Daniel kept his back to the section of the dancefloor where he had heard Johnny at, maneuvering him and Amanda further towards the opposite end. She went willingly and he tried not to be angry with her. He always knew she had a habit for meddling and he knew she only meant well, even if it didn't really seem like it at all. Amanda’s self righteousness was what drew him to her in the beginning but he never did appreciate it when he was the focus. 

They danced to a few songs moving with the crowd and the music. Daniel let himself move mechanically, not really thinking about the steps or doing anything to fancy with his foot work. If Amanda noticed his absentmindedness she didn't say anything. 

Some time in the last few songs they must have shifted just enough because the next thing he knew he was looking over Amanda’s shoulder and straight at the dancing couple. If he could even call it dancing. They looked like they were seconds from making love. 

He almost had not recognized them with Johnny’s face nuzzling at Carmen’s chest there in the open for everyone to see. Carmen had one had clenched tightly in his hair and the other was under the sleeve of his shirt exposing part of his pale bicep. Of the whole exhibition that small detail looked the most obscene. Like she was taunting anyone who looked that only she was allowed to touch that part of him. That it was hers and no one else’s. Not even the sun had the right to that sliver of skin. 

They straightened up as Daniel watched and he knew Carmen had seen him watching them. Daniel didn't even try to hide the fact, couldn't have even if he wanted to because nothing could make him look away at that point. He watched as she gave her attention back to the man in her arms with a bright smile. Johnny pulled her close again wrapping one arm tightly around her back and pressing his temple to hers. Daniel couldn't see either of their faces any longer but they look like they fit in each other's arms perfectly. Daniels hands on Amanda’s waist curled into tight fists as he watched them twirl on the dance floor, stopping with her back to him so he could stare straight at Johnny’s face. 

So he does.

Johnny is whispering into her ear. He could be yelling over the crown and the music, but the look on his face tells Daniel he’s not. He’s completely content there holding on to Carmen. Daniel isn't even surprised to see the tight hold Johnny has low on her back. His big broad hands span her entire lower back, fingertips digging into the swell of her ass as pulls her deeper into himself. Daniel wants to rant and scream that it’s not fair. That he didn't do anything to deserve being so separated from Johnny for so long. That the women in their arms should never have been there to begin with because Johnny and Daniel had always belonged together. 

Instead he just blinks and raises his eyes and see’s Johnny staring back at him, he see’s Carmen reach for the hem of her dress but he ignored her and just watched Johnny watching him until someone bumped into them diverting Johnny’s attention. He stares until Carmen drags him from the dance floor back to the reserved tables. 

Letting out a breath he had been holding he asked Amanda if they could go cool down by the bar on the other side of the club. Daniel ordered a whiskey and stands with Amanda while they wait. He’s not sure if he’s mad at her or not. Maybe he’s just too tired for it anymore right then. 

“Do you want to go?” Amanda asked beside him, sipping on her martini. 

“I told you he was happy with her.” is all Daniel can respond with. 

“I know.” she sighs “I’m sorry Daniel, I really am. If you’ve changed your mind about the divorce I completely understand.”

Daniel can't help it but he laughs. Next to him Amanda looks startled slightly but she smiles at him all the same. 

“We have to be the only couple to ever decide NOT to get divorced because one of us was mad at the other.” 

Amanda just smiles at him indulgently, shoving his arm lightly. When he finally gets his whiskey enough time has passed that he almost forgets why he wanted it in the first place. Almost but not quite. He downed it quickly, that and the two glasses of water after that while he chats with Amanda. She’s on her third martini so far, she’s never been ignored by a bartender, man or woman, once in her life. 

“Alright let's get out of here. I’m over it, we can swing by In N Out on the way home.” he says

“God yes, please. Some animal style fries sound amazing.” Amanda says. 

“Wait here, let me just go to the bathroom and we can go.” Amanda nods her agreement and Daniel sets off to find the men’s room. 

It’s amazingly empty when he gets there and he made a beeline for the urinal furthest away in case someone walked in. The bathroom was almost completely silent until someone opened the door and the music wafted in, only to be muffled again when it shut. Daniel glances over at the man who walked in and almost swallows his tongue when he sees Johnny pulling himself out to take care of business. Daniel looked away hastily and zipped himself up moving to the sinks to wash his hands. 

He could ignore Johnny completely and just walk away. He should. He’s sure the man hadn't noticed Daniel past being another body in the bathroom with him. 

Of course that idea is wiped clear from his mind when he turns back around again finding Johnny still standing in front of the urinal with one hand around a very much not soft, but also not completely erect dick in his hand. Johnny isn't stroking himself but Daniel can see his fingers tightening rhythmically around his length as it continues to harden. 

Daniel barely registered that the soft ‘fuck’ comes from his own mouth before Johnny is working to put himself away, tucking his semi back into the sinfully tight jeans that leave nothing to the imagination even after being zipped up.

“Shit man, sorry. It’s not you, it’s me. Too drunk I think.” Johnny chuckled slightly. 

“It’s fine Johnny, if I was here with someone as beautiful as you are, I'd probably be in the same state.” Daniel tells him mentally slapping himself in the face for bringing her up AGAIN. 

“You sayin I'm beautiful, Larusso?” he says with a half smile on his face. 

‘Yes’ Daniel wants to say

“I’ve always thought that, but I was talking about your, uh, your date.” he said instead, gesting with his hand to the door. 

“Carmen, right. Obviously.” Johnny said flatly giving Daniel a look he couldn’t understand. 

He took Johnny in as they stood. He’s older of course but he looked almost exactly like he did at 17. Long arms and long legs, with big hands and feet. Daniel’s eyes rested on the slight bulge he could still see behind the zipper, and wondered if that was just how he remembered it as well. 

Johnny snapped his fingers in front of the zipper making Daniel jump in embarrassment at having been caught. 

“Grow up Larusso, nothing there you haven't seen before. Hasn't changed any since last time you saw it.” Daniel felt himself flush at having his thoughts being so openly stated out loud. 

Daniel debated what to say before clearing his throat and going with the truth.

“All I have to compare it to are memories of you, it’s not like there was ever anyone else for me.” he said watching surprise and suspicion chase themselves across Johnny’s face. Daniel knew before he spoke that Johnny wasn't going to say anything nice to that 

“Don't let your pretty little wife hear you say that Larusso, she’ll be heartbroken.” he sneered meanly

“I doubt that,” Daniel said calmly, “and I wasn't talking about her anyways.” 

“I see, you just meant my dick is the only dick you’ve ever had. Well if you wanna tell him that he was your one and only im sure he’d be flattered.” Johnny said crudely and Daniel rolled his eyes, hurt that Johnny wasn't taking him seriously.

“Jesus Johnny don't be so crass. But yes, you're the only man I was ever with. The only man I've ever wanted to be with.” 

“Ah, ah, ah. But not the only person you ever wanted, ain't that right sonny boy? Soon as it wasn't fun and convenient being with me you took off. Right into the sunset. Or sunrise. Wherever the sun does it’s shit in Japan, I can't remember.” Johnny waved him off moving towards the door.

Daniel saw red moving quickly to block the door and shoving Johnny backwards, not caring that he ended up on the floor. He grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him up by his collar. 

“Fuck you, I didnt leave you! Me going to Japan was not the same as you taking off and never looking back, you prick. You. Left. Me.” Daniel practically screamed into his face.

“Japan’s where you picked up your thing for pretty brunette girls though huh.” Johnny snarled at him. 

Daniel could feel all the blood drain from his face. In front of him Johnny looked victorious and self satisfied.

It was impossible. 

There was no way Johnny could know that. 

Daniel’s grip slackened in shock. Johnny took the opening and lunged at him with both hands, yanking on his shoulders making Daniel lose his balance over him. He blinked and found himself in his back with Johnny sitting on his chest. 

“Decided cock just wasn't what you wanted huh?” Johnny said caging him in further, leaning over him and even more with his knees pinning his arms down at the elbow. 

He could feel how hard Johnny was as he practically rutted against him. Glancing down he could see the hard ridge of Johnny’s dick straining against his jeans. Daniel was sure he could feel the heat of it through the layers separating them 

“Come on, did you even try any brown haired boys? Or did you just miss pussy that much?” Johnny taunted him “Cuz i gotta say, spent 4 days watching you and Kumiko” Daniel’s eyes widened and he felt his stomach drop through the floor.

“oh yeah I know her name” Johnny laughed without mirth “but i didn't quite see the spark there.”

“Johnny-”Daniel tried, hands grabbing onto any part of Johnny they could. 

God this couldn't be happening. 

“But I guess you knew what you wanted didn't you Daniel? More for me I really. You may have only had my dick, but I've ridden just as much cock as I have pussy since I. Left. You” he hissed, throwing Daniel’s words back in his face.

Daniel felt Johnny’s weight shift and knew he was going to leave. He grabbed at him desperately only to be kicked away like some disobedient dog. 

“I swear it wasn't like that!” Daniel cried. But it was mostly. Daniel had been an idiot then and an idiot now. 

“Dont care Larusso, you go have your pussy. I'm gonna go try and get myself laid tonight too.” Johnny opened the bathroom door and left Daniel on the floor without looking back. 

He was still there when Amanda walked in a few minutes later. 

“Get up” she said, not even fazed to find him there “we have some things that need fixing don't we?”

Then

“Kumiko, I uh,” Daniel stammered as he watched Kumiko pull her shirt over her head as he straddled him. She had taken him hiking through the forests to her favorite picnic spot. He hadn't stopped her when she kissed him, just like he hadn't stopped her any of the other times she had pressed her small lips to his. He had jumped, caught off guard when she climbed into his lap but it felt so good to have her there he hadn't wanted to stop her then either. Now though, with her topless above him and undoing the buttons of his shirt he knew he needed to stop. This was taking things too far and he knew it. Daniel opened his mouth to tell her so, when she undid the button of his jeans and slid her delicate hand inside. He moaned instead and let her touch him. It didn't matter, he decided. No one would ever find out anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man this took so much more work than I was expecting but I really loved doing it! I hope everyone liked it! It came out so long I debated doing it as a one shot, but didn't want to not update this story so I left as a new chapter. I hope it doesn't throw anyone off. 
> 
> Also kinda side note: I just realized Daniel has no idea Johnny speaks Spanish. Man I can't wait till he finds out.


End file.
